My weekend.

I'm not a giant fan of Easter. You won't catch me making easter crafts, or even particularly enjoying mounds of easter eggs etc. We're not religious and we didn't celebrate it as a child ( my parents gave us money instead of eggs and it was just like a regular weekend.).
But do you know what I do love? Long weekends. I love getting to the end of the first two days and realising Abraham still has another day off. So good.
Needless to say, my weekend consisted of lots of family time, a bit of sewing time, a tonne of relaxing and only a smidgen of egg hunting.
Mum and Dad took Aesop camping  with them for two nights which was a  treat for both him and us. He spent hours and hours down at the playground with the other camping kids, and we had a nice quiet time at home, pottering around and hanging out with Otto and each other.
We had a small string maze on Sunday morning for Aesop and yesterday my Father-in-law, Steve, came over from Te Puke for the day. We ate Abrahams amazing cheese scones and our lounge was taken over by part of the Thomas set. Funtimes!
I did manage a bit of crafting in the middle, and will post some pictures of those things tomorrow.
Hope you all had a super dooper long weekend (and Easter if that's your thing).

Toxic crusader and a scowl.

I finally seem to have the knitting bug back. It feels like it's been a very long (and much too hot..) Summer without any knitting, so it's nice to be getting back into it.
First up I thought I'd give the 5th Avenue cowl another whirl. I made one for my sister for xmas last year, but made hers about half the length and in a bright purple. I made this one from wool that used to be a Stussy brand jumper, a wool and cotton blend.
I wanted this one to be lovely and long for lots of wrapping and wide for the 'bulk' factor, but I got a wee bit impatient and it's not quite as bulky as I'd hoped.

(This picture is rather irrelevant, but it matches!)

Next up is a bit of a funny one.
I found 8 balls of this, very acidic, green wool in the thrifties a few months ago. I had planned to make a huge big YOKOO-esque cowl with it (can you tell, I'm really feeling the cowls at the mo'..) but once I opened the bags and got to knitting I found it was actually a bit scratchy.
I realise that often wool will soften with washing, but I wasn't going to risk ending up with a giant scratchy scarf and realised that it would need to become outwear. Then I remembered the 'Professor vest'!
I have been waiting for the perfect brown, tweedy wool to whip one of these up for Otto, and figured I might give it a whirl with the toxic green instead.
Hmmm when will I ever learn that gauge swatches are done for a reason?!
The vest is huge. It won't fit Otto until next Winter! Bummer!
But on a plus note it's actually kind of cute, the pattern is awesome (just like your first one samlamb! You are wonderful!), I've made a start on next years knitting, and it's got me thinking of what else I can do with the wool, rather than just taking it back to the oppie. Any ideas?

Formspring Friday

Another week of great, and sometimes hilarious, questions. Thank you! So much fun to answer them. Please remember if you eever want to know anything the quesiton box is right there on the right! And if you get a formspring please let me know so I can return the favour, I try to ask the ladies I follow at least one question a day! Okay, so here goes..


Why?
Is a hip-hop group with a great song called 'Darla' about eating eggs. Check it out!

If you could have any movie characters wardrobe, who would it be and why?
I'm tending toward Selma from 'Dancer in the dark'. A horrendously sad movie but her wardrobe is so perfect. Vintage nana-ish dresses, woollen cardis, headscarves and sensible shoes. But it might also have something to do with the fact that I think having Bjorks real wardrobe would be a dream come true too.


Best decade for fabric?
Late sixties- early seventies. Crimpelene and mod patterned cotton moving into paisley needle cord and amaaazingly patterned polyesters.


On a scale of 1-10, how awesome is your husband?
12!


Do you use a hair straightener or is your fringe just naturally so perfectly placed?
I'm not sure i'd call it perfect, but yes I def use straightners! Not sure how I ever managed without them.


what are your fav blogs???
I have so many amazing blogs that I read every day. My fave blogs this week? craftykin.blogspot.com, eyeonkope.blogspot.com, greenvalleycrafts.blogspot.com, nzgreenbuttons.blogspot.com, podandthreepeas.blogspot.com and nzvanette.blogspot.com


Whats your best op shop find EVER
OH MAN. Too hard! Could it be my green cabinet? My blanket chest? The 1940's wool coat that fits like a glove? The statue of Jesus in my kitchen? Oh waaait! My 'Falconware' Budgie vase. Worth a few hundred dollars, mine for just $2... and more important than the price, I love love love it.


Have you ever kissed a girl and liked it?
Ha ha. Im not a fan of cherry chapstick. I do enjoy kissing my friends on the cheeks though.


so how did you "meet" your twin if you've never met?!?
She found me on the interweb!
We used to see each other around Nelson, and everyone each of us knew said we looked alike and some even got us confused, but we never found a reason to meet or speak to each other. (So many uncanny coincidences.. we would have been in the same year of art school had I not decided not to go, we had friends in common and she nearly came to a stitch n bitch group, prob at my house... etc but yet we never actually met.)

Thoughts on reality tv?
It depends. Most of the time I would say 'Cheesy as anything.' But I must confess there have been a few where I have been just as fascinated as the rest of the population.


will you be having any more kids?
Yes! We plan/hope to have one more. Not sure quite how we will be able to afford three children but love is more important than money, right?


why is a mouse when it spins??
Ummmm, I'm not sure but you could ask my compost bin.. for some reason it is full of mice!

if you could change your name, what would you choose?
I'm quite fond of my current name actually. Though if forced to cchange it I'd choose something old fashioned like Doris, or my nana's name which was Marjorie. And a surname? Smiles. Marjorie Smiles. Perfect.

Mama's little helper.

While Otto is not the greatest sleeper he makes up for it by being extremely helpful around the house.
He is a master knitting aide, reading the patterns, unravelling the wool for me and even giving it a bit of lubrication for ease of use.
He also likes to re-arrange toys and small furniture, remove small pieces of food from the ground, decorate the carpet, groom the cat, wipe down the front of the tv and put the dvds back in order.
But his specialty, at the moment, is definitely gardening. He is just great at pruning shrubs and removing caterpillars. But his talent truly shines when it comes to the soil. Moving it from place to place, checking the texture is correct,  and... adjusting the dampness levels.
What would I do without him?
I really am so thankful for my dirt-covered, rosemary scented baby.... even after pulling an all nighter.

(Also, thanks to Ariel for featuring Aesop's 5th party on the Offbeat Mama blog. Loooove her blogs and so stoked to be a part of it all.)

A quickie.

Otto seems to sleep quite sporadically at the moment.
Some days he will have two 1 1/2 hours sleeps, right on time, and other days he will push to stay awake all day, only giving in to a twenty minute sleep here and there.
I tend to spend his sleep time (such as now..) doing things that don't take much time, just in case he is going to have one of his mini-sleeps. I blog, I do dishes, I put washing out, I knit a few rows, etc. That way I sort of avoid the disappointment of having to stop doing something just as I was really getting into it. Not entirely logical but it's just how things work at the moment.
Yesterday I thought I would try something a bit different. I figured, if I was quick, I could cut out some shapes and sew them onto some of Otto's clothes in just twenty short minutes, so even if he woke quickly I would be done. I was right! And I felt very pleased with myself!
The wee jumpers were gifted to us by Lucy. They were knitted for Kyan by her MIL and are very cute indeed. The onesies were half price ($3!) at Farmers so, all in all, a super quick and very cheap wee wardrobe addition!

Thrifted Tuesday.

A day late, but I'm sure you will forgive me.
I popped in to the op shops, as I often do, on the way to get Aesop on Monday. In the first shop I found the African-style printed skirt and the bird glasses. I was well impressed and would have gone home a happy lady, but then.. the Sallies provided some pure second hand GOLD for me.
I have been dreaming of pinafore type dresses lately, thinking of ways I could make some uniform-esque frocks for the Winter, that I can chuck on over my tights and top to leave the house. Check out the colour! (Ignore the lack of ironing!) Check out the pockets! Check out the fact that it fits me peeeeerfectly. Oooh yeah. And if that wasn't enough- I also scored the cute little cardi and the gem of a trivet.
Sometimes the thirft gods are so good to me. I really must get round to cleaning out the shed so I can keep the good karma coming.

List update- March

Okay, so I didn't end up doing many of the numbers I planned to. In fact this month was another slow one! Jeepers, I better pick up my game if I want to get anywhere near finishing this list.

In April I intend to do numbers:  4, 17, and 24.
Half of numbers: 6, 10, 15, 16
And carry on with 18, 23 and 30.

1. Fit into my favourite summer top. - Nope, still the boobs. Though I think I gained over Aesop's birthday week too. 
2. Sew myself at least one DRESS. - Done!
3. Knit myself a cardigan I love. - Have chosen the pattern.
4. Make Abraham a hoodie. - I hear there's a birthday in April...
5. Start sewing to sell again. - Might have changed my mind about this one.
6. List GIANT pile of thing on Trademe. - Everything still ready and waiting for me to start.
7. Print the majority of our photos. - Still waiting for a sale.
8. Plant a vege garden. -  Done in februrary Yay!
9. Go to the movies. - Done in March
10. Back up our photos on hardrive/ preserve fruit, make jam. - No. And no. But I might try and see if my friend will leet me raid her fig tree in April.
11. Start blogging again. 01/01
12. Get business cards. - Have had them designed. But not sure I'll need them if I don't start sewing!
13. Buy 2 pairs of decent shoes. - First pair ordered and they're too big. stinkoes!
14. Take Aesop to the zoo. - July is the month for this! Waiting on an Auckland-dwelling baby niece or nephew to arrive!
15. Send (at least) 2 parcels to Amy. - Have sent one in Jan and am amassing things for the second.
16. Finish at least 2 duathlon type events. - One down, one to go!
17. Sort out entire garage. - Have made a start, but nowhere near finishing!
18. Finish yoyo quilt. - Chipping away at it.
19. Earn $1000 through sewing. - $91 down $909 to go. Hahah. Also not going to really work if I don't start sewing.
20. Have a bbq/dinner with over 10 people. - Nope. This might need to be a Winter event.
21. See some live music. - Done Feb.
22. Save over $1000/ have an outdoor movie night - Have found a projector to use but haven't set a date.
23. pay off our laptop and buy a new camera. - Yet to pay off the laptop but did buy the camera 01/01
24. Sew 10 garments for the kids. - 4 down (ottos crawling pants, ewok costume  and a hoodie for aesop), 6 to go.
25. Knit Aesop a jumper. - Have decided on pattern and started to do gauge swatch.
26. Make the mix cd to end all mix cds. - Nope. But I have begun the list.
27. Cover the cushions on the window seat. - Nope. Our couch is dying so might need to rethink my fabric choices.
28. Get away for a night without the kids! - Will be the end of the year (read: end of breastfeeding) for this one.
29. Get mentioned in a magazine. - Nope. Looking very unlikely if I choose not to start sewing again!
30. Make most of the gifts we give (this year). - A bit of a continuous goal this one. But going really well.


The anti-pants plan is going okay. Did wear pants under a long tunic-y  top/dress the other day, not sure but that might count as my first slip-up? tsk tsk.