Making pasta with children

This was the second time I made pasta with little ones. The first time they weren't very into it but this time they loved it and enthusiastically helped with every step. Here's some pictures

Mitch loves eggs and tries so hard to crack them like I do. He is sure that if he pulls hard enough the two sides will come appart. I love his 'sound effects' (errr eggy, in the cup, errrrrrrrr:)

 Cameron mixed the egg into the flour. We should have used a bigger bowl but I couldn't resist using this cute Pyrex bowl I got at a market last weekend ($2, yay!)

He loves kneading the dough

And winding, winding winding the dough through different thicknesses. (Why not multi task and eat an apple 'borrowed' from Karen's bench at the same time? that's why I always buy extra apples:)

We let the pasta stiffen before making into fettichini strips. At this point the boys started asking, 'is it ready now? Can I eat it?' approx every minute or so. I let them taste it and apparently it was delicious. Hmm...

 Ah, finally time to cut it into strips!

 We then cooked it, added sauce, ignored the huge mess of flour on the table, blew steam away.
 (cute wooden cutlery and also our wooden stirring spoon in pic above was made by our friend Sean of gacarver etsy shop)

And finally it was time to eat, Yum!

Yay for friday!

 Ive made some lip balms for my next market stall and some 'lipstick bags' per a cute old Lady's request. I hope she likes them:) this batch of lip balms are honey beeswax, ill make a few other kinds too.

 This morning I took my camera on our walk again, it makes it even more fun.

I don't know what this plant is but it sure is pretty and fuzzy. The day care children like to tickle each other with the branches and pull of the fuzz to throw into the wind. It drifts down slowly and makes us all smile

I'm so happy for it to be Friday, this weekend just couldn't come fast enough! We are going to the fertility specialist (for those that doesn't know, I have poly cystic ovarian syndrome and have been trying for the last 2.5 years to get pregnant) this afternoon and then don't have much planned except a friends 21st but that's perfect because I'm worn out.
Finally work has gotten just too much, starting 8am and not being able to go to bed until Josh is picked up at 10pm. Not only that I've just been feeling so drained seeing basically only toddlers all week while Benny is on afternoon so I asked Josh's dad to find someone to have him a few days and he found someone that can have him at his home so starting next week I will have Mondays off  and Thursdays finish at 4 so that I can go shopping in town with Benny and his parents (we go once a fortnight as its an hour away. Ive been missing out since I started having Josh evenings)
I'm excited for my child free evenings, not that I mind having him but  I just miss being able to go to the beach, visiting friends etc which I cant do at the moment because its all to far away to take him. If things go well with Josh's new babysitter he wont come anymore as he's starting kindy soon at their town which is 30mins or so away. This is nice in a way but I'm nervous that I might be short of work for a little while (having him is almost half my income) I have another family that wants care so I have my fingers crossed that I will be able to have them and not have to do early mornings. Ill be happy in a few weeks when I'm out of this time of transition and can relax!

Yarn along

 Seems ive been spending my spare moments knitting and reading im joining Ginny and many others for her yarn along!
Im working on some evenstar fingerless gloves , the same as I made for mum last year. She will be thankful that I will stop borrowing hers every time I visit! Im enjoying knitting these this second time round as its easier yet still challenging enough to keep me thinking, although it would have been a bit more exciting to do this second pair if 'id chosen a different colour for myself . I quite enjoy doing the cable pattern as its so much easier to go back on mistakes then lace.
The book im reading, knit one kill two is a knitting murder mystery. Benny thinks its hillarious that knitting murder mysteries exist, he talks about fearing old ladies that might stab him with their knitting needles:) I love this series of books, this is my second time reading them. The charachters in the book are so into knitting and talking about different yarns that its contagious and inspires me to knit. very handy, I needed some knitting motivation

 Ive also been making another pair of slippers, these ones from a felted jumper.

 The soules are different colour at the moment as I made the first one with the intention to leave the seams on the outside but then decided to turn the seams to inside (meaning the black outer soul is on the inside) One day soon I will fix it but for now their so cozy and warm I dont want to take them off

My favourite part was adding these wooden tree buttons that id been saving for the right project. Love them:)

recycled wool socks

Lately as the weathers been getting colder I've been busy re-purposing  wool jumpers (sweaters) that I collected over summer. I got lots from the $1 rack at my favourite opp shop because of course I was the only one wanting wool jumpers in the middle of summer!
Most of them I just altered to fit me better by taking in the sleeves and width if they were too big etc but for a few that just weren't going to work Ive felted them and turned them into other things. Ive made fingerless gloves, the cowl I was wearing last post and here are some pictures of some socks I made tonight.

 I started with this piece which used to be a heavily felted jumper before I used the arms and top for other projects.

I then marked around my foot and then the length I wanted them making sure that the jumpers ribbing would be at the top of the sock. One side was on the fold so that my socks would have less seams

 I cut the fabric allowing plenty of room around my marked line. I then sewed on the line and tried them on. It fitted perfectly but if it was too small I would have had room to un-pick and make it a little bigger

 Once I knew that id got the fit right I trimmed the excess fabric to about 1/4 inch and turned them inside out

 Felty warm socks, as easy as that!

 I also made these silky soft cashmere socks out of the same cardigan as my cowl and arm warmers. Oh and a double layered cozy beanie.Yep I got good value out of that miss fitting cardie!

my first market

 Today was my first market stall. I was nervous and so worn out from a busy week that I considered cancelling but I'm glad I went, it was lots of fun!

Here's my stall. I was supposed to bring a table cloth but I don't own a single one let alone one big enough for a trestle table! so I used a quilt I made a while ago instead. On my stall I had lots of things from my shop, all the things I posted about the other day plus some wheat and lavender bags, lavender draw sachets and little bits and pieces

Both my parents were able to come and help me which was great and my friend Sarah is keen to help me next time so it will be lots of fun too:)

  although I had wanted to be outside in their beautiful garden I enjoyed being inside, especially when I went out part way through and realised how windy it was!

 I was pleasantly surprised at how much of a friendly little community the stall holders are, they made us feel so welcome and were so enthusiastic about all my hand mades which was a much needed confidence booster. Caterina, the lady that runs the markets even swapped a wool felt crown for my stall fee which was great (i love swaps, it almost feels like getting things for free and theres something special about free stuff:) and she ordered a second one for her grandson too.

 she gave me the idea to light some of my candles and lent me this pretty candle holder. The lit candles made my stall look so cute

wooly wooly pants and a nearly finished rag rug

 I am beyond excited about what came in the mail today!
A few months ago I realised that I was in need of some warm winter pants. I decided to search for some stretch merino wool pants. I knew they would be pricey but I'm all about quality over quantity. My absolute favourite pair were yoga pants (the kind with a wide waist band that folds over instead of elastic, so comfy) from Merino Country but they were $150 and I really needed two pairs.
Since then I've been regularly checking ebay to see if I could find anything similar with no luck whatsoever (I only once saw a pair of stretchy merino pants in size XXL) until the other day I found the exact Merino Country pants I had been wanting in my exact size! Two pairs! I managed to win the auction and got both pairs for 2/3 of what it would have otherwise cost for one pair new. They look brand new and I couldn't be happier (or cozier or warmer) with them. Yep, these were meant to be my pants

Look how big my rag rug is getting! A few more rounds and it will be finished. As you can see its already in use. So far none of the day care children have discovered the loose end that if pulled will unravel my hard work, that's a plus

the rest of the quilts...

 Here are some of the vintage sewing machines that were displayed at the quilting show. They also had cute old pattern books and some other vintage sewing accessories

 This woodland themed quilt was one of my favourites

 Mum loved the fairy quilts

 All the ladies running the display were dressed in their old style Cornish outfits, some had adorable bonnets but I didn't get any photos of them. Look how tiny this lady's hand stitched hexagons are! She must have the patience of a saint

 I love this quilt too!

This is another one that featured beautiful stitcheries

 Afterward we caught up Benny and Dad (who had understandably ditched us to browse the nearby fishing supplies shop;) We had a drink at our favourite Moonta cafe 'Henry on George' (meaning on George street)

This is what our drink and cake looked like, yum:)

my future quilt

 On the weekend our Cornish festival was on. I missed out on most of it, the maypole, etc but Mum and I did go to two quilting displays. Benny, Dad and I also went to the 'cavalcade of cars' which was great, I love seeing all the beautiful old cars lovingly restored. My favourites were model t fords, an old fire truck driven by two men in old style firemen uniforms and hats. And also a ridiculously cute little vintage caravan that Dad and I really want.

I have loads of pictures of the skillfully stitched creations, but for today I'm just sharing my favourite. I love most of the stitcheries and plan on hunting down the pattern to make a similar quilt

 An adorable apple orchard that I hope to one day plant my garden (you know, when I have a garden!)

its really killing me with its cuteness. Next post- lots of the other quilts and vintage sewing machines

lavendar and dandelions

 while Dad and Benny were watching boring car races yesterday I disappeared into the garden

 The lavender bushes I planted a few years ago are humongous and so beautiful!

 They are a favourite spot for the bees

 these little guys look so happy

 cut ready to make lavender wheat heat bags for markets

(Mum, Dad, I have no idea why your garden is about to be full of dandelions *cough cough*)