Farewell Moley

It is hard to write this, today has been a very hard day for us all here.  One month ago yesterday we had to take a dearly loved fur baby to the vet and came home thinking he would be fine.  Unfortunately more tests and scans proved that wasn't the case and today we had to say goodbye to our dear Molesworth (Moley).
We got Moley as a rescue kitten from Cats Protection League when we first moved back to NZ.

That little ball of grey fluff grew into a long lanky and slightly daft cat.

He was really DPs cat and spent most nights sitting on his knee 'helping' him play computer games or do some computer programming or whatever was on the agenda for that night.  He had the bad habit of jumping up on our kitchen bench, and used to dribble when he purred.  Even so I'd give anything to be telling him off for getting on the bench right now.
He liked to sleep in daft positions....

but his favorite of all was snuggle dup with his dear friend Maya

We all miss you so much The Mole and we will never forget you.  RIP Moley Nov 2004 - May 2012.

Firewood Time

It's that time of year again when quite suddenly we seem to be waking up to cold mornings and are needing to light the fire in the evenings.  As usual this means our thoughts turn to getting more firewood to get us through the coming winter. We will be ordering some soon, but since we are never going to pass up an opportunity of cheap/free wood yesterdays Mr A and Daddy went to Daddy's work and broke up a couple of wooden pallets there that were destined for the skip and brought them home.
Once home there was a lot of unloading of the car, then sawing the wood up and cutting it into kindling.  Mr A got involved in every aspect (apart from the one involving the axe, and here he is helping saw up some wood.

One Of My Favourite Things

Anyone who has ready anything on my blog with know that I love all things crafty.  Others who don't understand this love may not share my joy of arriving home to a parcel knowing that there is new fabric or yarn inside, but lets face it everyone has some vice.  There is always something that they are truly excited about receiving in the mail, buying online and downloading or going to get from the shops.  I know that sounds very materialistic, when in fact I'm not really a 'things' person, but who doesn't love getting parcels really?
Upon our return from the school drop off yesterday morning I found not one but two courier parcels on my doorstep.  Instantly I realized there were two lots of yarn I had ordered recently and got pretty super-dooper excited.  Opening up these parcels I was in no way disappointed :-)
The first parcel I opened was from Featherbrush Yarns, a recently established indie-dyer who has some amazing colourways.  I finally succumbed last week when she did a special stocking in honor of ANZAC day.  It was 10 years this year since I spent the night camped out on the grass on the Gallipoli Peninsula to attend the dawn service there and ever since then I think ANZAC day has had a really special meaning to me.  I am hoping to use this yarn to make something a little bit special for me, something that will make me think of the ANZAC troops and the time I spent at Gallipoli each time I wear it.

And inside some fabulous 10ply yarn in colourway Poppy

The light really wasn't great yesterday and these photos in no way do justice to the depth of color and true gorgeousness of this yarn.

The second parcel I received I was even more excited about because it was a custom order I had placed with another recently established indie-dyer Olive and Emma.  I have 'known' Emma for a wee while now through a couple of online forums and have often admired the fabulous hand-dyed yarn she produced so you can imagine that I was pretty excited when I found out she was starting a business.  Then as if I needed any encouragement she teamed up with another good friend who I am currently testing a pattern for (more on that later) with a special offer on custom dying.  After much deliberation and many complete changes of tack in my thought process I finally asked Emma to dye me a nice dusky rose pink for Miss M.
First of all here is the parcel.  Isn't that just the cutest, I mean everyone knows that your favorite things come in brown paper packages tied up with string :-)

And here is what I found inside.  three 100g skeins of the most gorgeous 8ply super wash yarn in colourway "Roses for Meg".

I wound this and cast it on straightaway for the test knit so once it is done I will blog even more about it :-)

FO A New Winter Top

Winter seems to have suddenly arrived and as usual I have left sorting the kids clothes for winter way too late.  Luckily this time round the change in temperature has coincided with me having a couple of weeks off work AND the arrival of my new machine to play with.  Unfortunately there hasn't been as much sewing time as it sounds like there should be as I enjoyed the company of my niece for the first week (and some great girly shopping days) and the school day is way too short!
My first workout for the new machine was to make a couple of tops for Miss M.  I have enough fabric here to sink a small ship so the thought of going out and buying she tops for winter seemed just wrong.  After some stash diving and some pattern perusing I cut out a few things and sewed up a couple.  One is still awaiting a snap so I don't have any pics yet but the other is finished.
The pattern is of course from an ottobre mag, 1/2010 design 2, "Kamomilla" T-shirt and I made a size 80cm.  There are two variations on this top, one has binding round the bottom of cropped sleeves and the other has wide cuffs on full length sleeves.  I wasn't too sure about the wide cuffs but definitely wanted full length sleeves so decided to give it a crack.  The fabric I used is some gorgeous thick cotton lycra that I was given by a friend (and have about 5 metros of) and although I wasn't sure about the sagey color of Miss M I am loving it now.  That is probably just as well because I have enough of the fabric to make her winter tops for the next 6 years or so :-)
The top

I actually really like the girly touches of the gathered neckline and the gathering of the wide sleeves into the cuffs.

And a few quick action shots taken as she was about to head out the door to daycare.

I am really pleased with the fit, the neck is nice and stretchy and easy to get on and there is still plenty of room for growth so she should get all this winter out of this no problem.

New Toys

Amongst all the birthday party preps and chaos we have had lately I have got a new toy to play with.  Actually it has been a case of out with the old and in with the new and Mum and I swapped sewing machines.
For many years now this trusty Globe, which Mum bought when I was a baby, has been my workhorse sewing machine.  While it has had a few quirks in it's time I have loved this machine and it certainly did everything I ever needed it to do.

A while ago Mum decided that since she isn't doing anywhere near as much sewing now we should swap machines, she gets back her Globe and I get her flash bang Bernina.  Although I was sad to see this old faithful machine go I can't deny that I have been very excited about getting my hands on this baby.

I did have a few teething problems and I am still getting used to it but I am rapidly falling in love with this new toy and I'm hoping I can find the time to really get the best use out of it.  It almost seems a bit wasted on me really since I don't quilt and it comes with a walking foot and stitch regulator and everything.  I have also seen that you can get an embroidery attachment for it which sounds pretty tempting depending on the price :-)  For now though I am loving it for sewing things for the kids, more on that soon.

FO: Birthday shirt

Mr A was a bit distraught when he found out that his favorite shirt I had made him was too small and he couldn't wear it for his birthday.  So this meant a trip for the two of us to Spotlight for some fabric (with cars please Mummy) to make a new one.  After much searching Mr A spied some fabric and home we came.
As usual I resorted to my ottobre books for a pattern (03/09 design 21, Little Fella Shirt) and I cut his one to a size 98cm with 110 length.  I found that the pattern went together well, the only issue I had was with the instructions for the collar binding but I think that was probably more due to my brain being half as keep than anything else.  Because it was only finished the night before the party I didn't get any pics before it was worn but here are a few photos of Mr A wearing it.

He seems very pleased with it anyway and that's the main thing.

A big 5 year old!

At the end of April Mr A turned 5 which meant saying goodbye to daycare and all his fabulous friends and teachers there and moving on to the big new world of school.  

The process all started with a birthday cake on his last day of daycare.  Mr A seemed pretty excited about the cake and not too worried about the finality of the whole affair but I must admit I was very sad to see the end of this chapter for him.  Mr A has attended the most wonderful daycare centre 3 days a week since he turned one and his friends and the teachers there really are like a second family to him.  They have done so much for him and helped him to turn into the caring and confident wee boy that he is today. A huge thanks to the staff there.
I did a bit of a cheat for the birthday cake for daycare and bought one of those edible icing images of his favorite character, Lightening McQueen.  He loved it and it went down well with the kids as well.

The birthday boy.

Miss M not missing out on the celebrations.

All of this was followed by party preparations and then the big birthday itself which was also party day.

Opening presses

Quite a good haul, check out all that lego!

Time for a party!

Mars Bar teddy cars

Windmill party favors

Every good party has lots of food...

...and lots of dancing.

Then of course there is the birthday cake.

The monster truck cake.

Blowing out the candles.

Then a couple of days later was the first day of school :-)

Mr A and Miss M all ready to head to school and daycare

The pair of them being daft.

So it was all quite some 5 days or so but loads of fun and Mr A is loving being a big school boy.