Beachy Head and Birthdays....

Hello - how are you? Thanks for stopping by....

It's been a busy time for me recently what with having my latest design to finish and publish, then coping with the death of one of my all time favourite people Prince, then it was my birthday, then the birth of a lovely baby girl to a good friend, then my eldest son's birthday ... my emotions have been up and down like Tower Bridge!

My latest design is the Beachy Head Shawl which is a simple garter stitch crescent shawl with a pretty lace edging. I gifted it to my Mum (who is the model on my Ravelry page) and since then she's worn it almost every day! I love seeing something I've made being worn and loved so much. Reminds me of why I love knitting so much .... here are some pics

I'm really happy with how it turned out and I think it's one of those garments that will be a great "go to" item in my wardrobe. I'm now thinking of making one in two shades of green ..... or charcoal and aubergine ..... or plum and gold (possible Gryffindor shawl???).....the possibilities are endless.

Then the unthinkable happened and news broke of Prince's death. I still can't believe it. He was so much a part of my youth and growing up - his songs are like pages in my diary, so representative of many events in my formative years. I couldn't even listen to his music for the first few days and when I did, it was like saying goodbye to a very special friend ..... RIP Prince, those doves are crying now....

Then it was my birthday and I was very spoilt by a dear friend who treated Mum and I to a gorgeous lunch at a local restaurant high on a hill called Tumbledowns. Don't you think that's a wonderful name for a restaurant? I do.

We had a lovely meal and I chose a Hot Apple and Cherry Cup for dessert .... yum...... My friend had told the kitchen staff that it was my birthday so they did this as a surprise! I thought it was really sweet....

My birthday was followed by the birth of a rather gorgeous little girl called Jessica to a good friend of mine. She already has two boys (as I do) so having a girl has been exciting for us all! In my opinion, there is nothing quite as beautiful as a newborn ....

And then (if all that wasn't enough) it was my eldest son's birthday. He turned 17 this year and I still can't quite believe that it was 17 years ago that we took this......

Why does time go by so fast??? I wish I knew.....

I'm hoping for a quieter week next week so I can get on with some serious knitting. I have a purple scarf planned in honour of Prince and I've already chosen the name .... Paisley Park of course.

Have a great week.....

Til soon.

xxx

♥

Brights and Buttons....

Hello! Yikes it's been a while. I haven't yet managed to get into a rhythm with my blog posts this year but promise to be a little more organised from now on!

So, Feb has been and gone. Why does time speed up as you get older? It seems I've just got things organised at the beginning of the month when suddenly it's month end and I haven't done anything! Does anyone else get that? (Or is it just me????)

I have managed to finish the first of my 12 of 12 Challenge. It's this -

What do you think? I'm really happy with it altho I didn't do the side shaping as I wanted a kind of "tunic" thing going on rather than a fitted sweater. Its this pattern (Gabbro by Carol Feller). Do you like the lace panel down the sides and at the neck? I do. Here's some more pics.....

It looks fab with jeans and is roomy enough for a long-sleeve T in those cold winter months .... always useful.

On a completely different subject, fruit salad!!!! DH and I had a sudden yearning the other day for fresh fruit salad and seeing as we're in the middle of Summer here with lots of fruit in the shops (well, what's left after we've exported it all to Tescos and the like....)

we made this -

And it was just as delicious as it looks - so much so that DH made another one 2 days later!

On the home front (literally), my army-loving youngest boy is having to make a model dog kennel for a school project so we got busy with the paper mache yesterday .......

There was much squidging and squelching (are there such words?) with the wallpaper paste and altho he seemed a little reluctant at first with the stickiness of it all, once he got stuck in (literally) there was no stopping him. Once it's dry, painted and suitably decorated I shall include pics in a future post. I don't know who had more fun tho, him or me!

On the needles at the moment are socks (as always) and I'm steaming ahead on the Magic Loop! So much easier than DPNs and you don't get those terrible ladders when you jump from one needle to the next! If you haven't tried Magic Loop then give it a go (just Google "Magic Loop" cos there are loads of video tutorials).

I'm also making a couple of gifts so I can't show you too much at the moment ....
there's this ....

together with this ....

and this .... isn't this blue heavenly?

But more about those another time.

In the meanwhile I leave you with my basket of beautiful stash yarn in the sunshine .....

Til soon.

xxx

Some FOs, some WIPs, two new additions and the ocean....

For those of you that are not "yarnie types", FOs stands for Finished Objects and WIPs are Works In Progress....

Let's start with my latest FOs. A while ago now a fellow blogger (Shelley who has since deleted her blog - so sad....) sent me these in a yarn swap.

They were four balls of Debbie Bliss Rialto Lace yarn in the most gorgeous deep claret colour. For months I have looked at them in my yarn stash quite unable to decide what to make with them. I wanted to do them justice, to find a pattern that would merit this spectacular yarn. It is extremely fine (lace weight) and extremely light. I spent hours on Ravelry trying to find a pattern that I could do (I had never worked with lace before) and finally, F I N A L L Y after months and months of deliberation, I settled on the Holden Shawlette and here is my finished version...

I have to say, I am very proud of myself although this pattern is very very easy and was a great first lace project. Working with such fine yarn is an experience but it grows much quicker than I had thought it would and because it's so light I never felt as though I were carrying a ton of bricks around with me (which can happen when making shawls and wraps). Anyway, it only used one ball of the yarn that Shelley sent me so I have three left to make another shawl.....does that mean I have to make another decision....cripes!

My next FO was an attempt to use up some of the bits and bobs in my stash that will never stretch to a garment of any degree. I am always reluctant to throw away or discard those half balls and quarter balls that remain when a project is finished and I try and keep them in bags by yarn weight. My 'cotton' bag was feeling nicely plump so I decided to crochet a couple of dishcloths.

These are about 15cm square and they really do make washing dishes so much easier and more enjoyable. I know that I need to get a life, but there you go.....

Next up is my WIP which proved to be very difficult to capture on my camera. The colour of the yarn is called Sea Mist and it's a greeny blue (in fact, the very colour of the sea!) but for some reason my camera didn't like that particular shade. This was the best I could get and it looks more like a baby blue which it isn't.

The pattern is the Texture Shawl Recipe by Orlane and I'm doing it in double knitting wool although I think it would be fab in 4 ply. Again the pattern is very easy and the textured stitch really does break up the stocking stitch with great effect. Am thinking this will be a fab shawl.

I am still working on my Readers Wrap which I previously posted about here but am hopeful I will finish it this weekend! It's been a really great project to do - just simple stocking stitch, melodic and therapeutic....

My two new additions are these -

Two new bags - YAY!  The first I received from Elizabeth at Mrs Thomasina Tittlemouse (one of my favourite blogs). She made it herself and it's quite exquisite.

Front view

Closeup of the bird whom I've named Charlie (don't ask me why...)

Closeup of the flower made up of four layers of fabric with a button through the centre - delightful!

Back view (LOVE the red flowers!)

It really is beautiful and will be my bag of choice to take to work when I start my new business next month. Thanks again Elizabeth....

The second bag came from Yarndale which for those of you that don't know, is a huge craft and yarn festival being held in Skipton in North Yorkshire at the end of September. Seeing as I live in South Africa and cannot jump on a train to attend, I thought buying one of their bags was the next best thing.. (Excuse the creases but I couldn't be bothered to get the iron out ....)

Is that sheep logo not the cutest thing? I've nicknamed her Shirley (well she can't be Shaun) and in true Yorkshire fashion 'I think she's a grand lass!'. Sigh, still wish I could go though.....

And on a final note (this post seems to have gotten longer and longer) we went to the beach last week for 5 days and it was G-R-E-A-T!!!!!!!!!!!! Here are some pics....

The view from our apartment

A Wagtail on the rocks (and no, that's not the name of a cocktail!)

DH pretending his trying out for Brighton & Hove Albion (his team)!

And finally, sunrise on the Natal coast. (This pic has not been enhanced in any way. This is how sunrises are in this amazing country.)

Thanks for stopping by.

Till soon.

xxx

End of one chapter, beginning of another....

I finished teaching last Friday. I've been an ex-preschool teacher for an entire week and I have to say, it feels no different! I suppose because all the schools are on holiday now so I know that my 'little darlings' are all tucked away in their homes with their mums and dads or on holiday at the beach on in the mountains so I don't feel as though I'm missing out on them. I know I'll feel differently when the schools go back and I'll think of them cuddling their new teacher (who, by the way, is totally fab) or sitting on her lap pretending to put "makup" on her face....or doing her hair with sticky playdo fingers.....or pretending she's sick in bed and playing nurse "cos she's got an ow'ie"......sigh. It's funny how their little souls eat into your heart. Even the ones that you could happily throttle on a daily basis somehow manage to gently strum your heartstrings with winning smiles or cheeky songs. Actually, I'm a firm believer in the adage "there are no bad children, only bad parents" so I tried to warm myself to even the naughtiest children which wasn't always easy. I do miss them but I have new things to turn to and new excitements to grab hold of......but more about that later. By the way, we had a dressing up day on the last day of school and I went as Funny Lady. What do you think?

The kids thought it was hysterical and kept asking me "Why did you paint your hair green?" !!!! Well, I thought, if you can't be silly when you're nearly 50 when can you be silly?

On the craft front, I've made two more bags with Lucy's bag pattern for a friend of mine and her 4 year old daughter. They came out pretty well so I hope they like them....

Sorry. That's a bit over the top with the photos but I love all those yummy colours sooooo much!!!! I particularly like the floral lining that I chose for my friend's bag as it's a little bit more grown up than the polka dots although I LOVE polka dots on anything (who doesn't?). This friend, however, is very feminine and elegant so I thought the floral would be more 'her'.

As for knitting, well, I've been wanting to make this for ages and ages and so finally this week I cast on and got going. It's just my sort of pattern. Half cardi and half shawl/wrap and very very easy which is always a good thing when, if you're like me, you have 3 or 4 projects on the go at once! The yarn I'm using is lovely to work with. It's Elle Marco and the colourway is called Strawberry (what's not to like?) and is mainly red and white with flecks of black so it will go with almost everything in my wardrobe.....

This is how much I've done so far....please excuse the watering can. I wanted something to prop up the WIP!

And a close up of how it looks ..... gorgeous! I can almost taste those strawberries......

We're off to the beach on Monday for 5 days and I can't wait! Just to feel the sand in my toes and smell that salty air....heaven! Lots of long beach walks planned, sitting on the verandah watching the waves and not much else.....I hope your week is as good as mine will be. ♥

Til soon.

xxx

Winding down.....

Sorry that it's been a while but life is pretty busy at the moment. In just over a week I'll be finished teaching my 'little darlings' at the preschool and moving on to bigger things!  I've decided to try my hand at running my own business and so will be putting my teaching career on hold for a while until 'my ship comes in' (or not as the case may be)...... In which case I'll be on the lookout for another teaching post but I'm not thinking about that at the moment!

Because of my sudden rush to get things up to date in my classroom and at least give the impression to the new teacher that I not only knew what I was doing but was organised too, this month has been a wee bit hectic but I have managed a few things so I thought I'd share them with you.

First of all, I made a little holder for all my beads and necklaces. My mom bought me the 'Smile' ornament and I just added some cup hooks. Cool hey? And Oh So Useful Too!!!!

Next up - I've been enjoying some Autumnal strolls through my garden. The light here in South Africa in the Autumn/Winter is amazing......Very crisp and clear.

This is a Weaver bird's nest. They hang from the trees and are so intricately made. A masterpiece of nature I 

always think.

I've also managed a little bit of this and that on the creative front. I started a commission - one of the Lucy Bags for a friend. Here it is after a couple of hours

 And here's one I've almost finished for her daughter.

Some flowers for the bag. These are the Triple Layer Flowers that we all know and love from Lucy at Attic24.

And lastly here are some bunting triangles which I'll be sending to Lucy for Yarndale. I thought she might appreciate some from Africa!

So not too idle!!! Have also got two beanies (with decorative flowers of course) on the go so my fingers are knowing no rest!!!!

Til soon.

xxx