yarn along

 woo hoo, three posts in one day, that,s got to be a record for me right?!  Lately I haven't been getting on here much so when I finally do I have lots of photos to share. Things are busy at the moment. I went to a hens night on the weekend and have another this weekend and then two weddings, both of which I'm a brides maid in, within a month. A few weeks later were going on holiday to Queensland oh and in between all the excitement I'll go to the fertility specialist and naturopath. Its all going to be lots of fun and I have a feeling I'm going to blink and a whole crazy busy month or two will be gone. Which will make me a month or two closer to moving house:)

In the meantime, maybe ill get some knitting done. My work in progress is a flora hat. I started it a few weeks ago. Its one of my first tries at intarsia and I was almost finished when I tried it on. I'd pulled the stitches too tight and it sort of looked slightly bunched up. I thought it might be OK  but when I showed it to Benny he said "oh that looks cool, is it army print?" hmm, not quite the look I was going for. So now I kind of want to re do it but I'm worried it will look like army print again.
Maybe it can sit a little longer and I can knit this instead?

 A while back I knitted a few vanilla soakers for the one day baby.

 The white one is finished and the pink stripe one needs leg cuffs still.

Tonight I've been looking back on my blog. For quite a while now I've been unmotivated with it thinking that I'm just posting same old with not much new to share. As I looked back I enjoyed it so much and realized that my 'same old' really is nice to look back on. It might seem like same old when I've just done it but to look back on my favorite everyday moments really is a picture of my life. Even if I forget to take photos when out doing fun things like I usually do. I look back on my every day normal and I see the happiness I make for myself in simple ways. It inspires me to plant more seeds, knit more, sew more. I love my every day normal.
Its been so nice to look back on our holidays, anniversary's  fun day care moments, old houses. The every day things I have forgotten about.
I think my very favorite thing looking back on my blog is re reading my honest posts on the now 4 year journey of trying to get pregnant. It brings a calmness to my soul to re read them. Validating all the thoughts and feelings I've felt and written down, It some how heals the hurt a little more each time and makes me feel strength. It reminds me that were still trying, even though after all this time it sort of feels like I've moved on and just gotten used to pregnancy and parenthood being something that other people get to experience and I don't.
That sounds so miserable but honestly its not in a sad way, just in a protecting myself from hurt way. My naturopath speaks so positively about me getting pregnant and I try to still talk like I feel its possible but after all this time it sounds kind of silly to me to. I guess I think of myself as infertile until proven otherwise. It's not that I don't believe it can happen, it really is just wanting to be at peace with what is until it does.
I was re reading all the comments on those posts too. Each of you that wrote kind and reassuring comments, every time time I re look at those posts, I re read them and they feel like little angels of hope dancing into the sky. It really does make me feel so much better to have all those kind words wishing my baby would come

inside, outside

 : : inside

A spot cleared for my craft bits and pieces in the play room. Formerly it had become a spot for everything that didn't have a place (ie a big mess) now it is a breath of fresh air

buntinting I made last week from some peter rabbit fabric scraps, flowers brought in. The tiny posie off daffodills has filled the room with its sweet scent

some of my home spun wool being knitted into a little something. I love the feel of the lanolin

: : outside

our peas got damaged by fierce weather yesterday, they were reaching to the very top of the poles and now they are all blown down(you can see the poles are wonky too!). A bit sad but their still healthy and full of peas so thats what matters the most of course

 bennys parents dropped off about 10 bales (!!!) of pea straw as they were sick of bits blowwing into their pool. The garden and apple blossom kids are appreciative!

 my very favourite place to sit (my $2 garage sale chair)

A dinner I looked forward to all day, leftover babi kecap my by my Opa, the best cook ever (my slightly biased opinion of course)

yay for second hand!

For a long time I've been wanting a wooden play kitchen for my Apple Blossom day care.
I contemplated making one but it was far (far far) beyond my woodworking capabilities.
After months of looking for something second hand that I could make into one I stumbled upon this gorgeous little kitchen dresser!
I still cant believe my luck, once I add a sink, stove burners and taps it will be exactly what I wanted but didn't think I was going to be able to in my wildest dreams find! Beautiful handmade play kitchens are few and far between in Australia but I've finally scored us one. I pick it up on Sunday and look forward to sharing photos of it done up and polished very soon

 Martha B Rabbit, the fairies cook has been my favorite nap time book lately and I love seeing parts of it acted out in the children's play, so sweet:) I cant wait to see the day care boys play cooking and preserving in the new (old:) little kitchen

I'm afraid my socks haven't come along as much as I would have liked. There is a down side to tooth pick thin knitting needles, and aside from how fiddly they are.
I took my knitting along to my friends beach shack on the weekend and one of the tiny needles got snapped. Not that it was so bad, I really didn't need my knitting to distract me from the beauty and wonderful friends I was surrounded by. We had such a fabulous time and once my needles are replaced the sock knitting will continue. On the Saturday night we made friends with a fox. Sarah's boyfriend tempted him to the back door with sausage and bread and he was quite friendly. Foxes are introduced pest here in australia but they are so beautiful, much like rabbits

While I wait for new needles I make some little projects

green

Last week I visited my aunt Levin and she gave me this gorgeous Madeline tosh yarn. I'm so in love with it! Its slowly becoming the mermaid socks I dreamed up for it. I say slowly because I've only ever knitted socks in 8ply. I feel like I'm knitting these on tooth picks!

 this week the sun has been shining and days have been almost entirely spent outdoors. Ropes are so handy, they can become so many different toys. We make rope swings, bells on ropes to jingle and a basket tied to the veranda can be so fun to swing and twirl. A swing for toys or a good place for a collection of shells or rocks

With these warm days it feels like the garden is growing so much each day. Ive been spending so much time out there. My parents came over on Monday. We spent the whole day lazing in my veggie patch, snacking on a pancake picnic. They helped me build a big new garden bed and change the garden bed design a bit. Next time I will show a before and after 

 Potatoes are supposed to grow in the summer in Australia aren't they? I have quite a few volunteer plants from compost and I'm hilling them up to see how they go. I have to be honest, their doing a lot better than the summer potatoes I planted and lovingly tended to

 broccoli is surprising me. I haven't had a single successful broccoli since I moved to this town, each year I get little bugs that go crazy for them, this year I have the bugs but they just seem to be on the leaves mostly. Definitely wishing I had planted more. I will get a few seedlings tomorrow

 I like this old fence post with peeling paint that is now sitting in the middle of a veggie patch with no purpose. My cat mishka likes to sit on it for a good view

 Afternoon light peeking through the lattice fence

Recent knitting

 On Sunday I cast on for a little boy jumper for the one day baby pile. It looked a bit wide and short. The size was 0-3 months and here it is on little Mr. 8 month old! I'm hoping I have enough wool to lengthen it so that I can call it size "8 months" and call it a day

 Little Mr. said, why id love to tangle your yarn and suck on your knitting needles. Take all the time you need  distracted with that black box

Here is the happy little pile that slowly grows

 I also made a little yellow bonnet and a stripey sock. Yep, just the one sock. The sock is a match to the little jumper I'm making so I will either have enough wool to make the other sock or have to unravel this one to finish the jumper. Only time will tell, I have my fingers crossed the wool stretches further than I think it will

 Next weekend Benny and I are going camping at the river with our parents, sisters and their families as a little celebration of our engagement (a little late as we were waiting for fire ban season to end) I'm making our niece and nephew hats that I've promised them. Terleahs pink hat is done and I have my fingers crossed that it fits her. The yarn is an 8 ply that she chose in Broken Hill. Its so thin that it sort of seemed more like 4ply, I wish I would have doubled it but anyhow, ill see how it goes. Dylan's green hat was improvised based on a hurricane hat pattern I used a few years ago (made last weekend when I was at the hut and didn't have a pattern) Its looking good but... I might run out of yarn. Yes again!

And I almost forgot to add this picture of my gorgeous little godson in another of my recent knits.I made him a little cable hat to keep him warm. He looks a little un impressed but apparently he keeps it on which means he likes it:)

I got the most exiting package today! Almost 4 weeks before my birthday but Benny let me open it now anyway. He didn't even need bribery but if he did I'm pretty sure I would have stooped to that level:)
Anyhow... I'm off to do some spinning!

'Crafting On'

 The past few days Ive been getting back to working on my hand stitched quilt. I'm just about half way finished the quilt top!

On Saturday night we had a barbecue out the back and I stitched as we waited for it to cook. All day we had been looking forward to having an outdoor fire but instead we got lots of rain which was nice too.

I love the mess of colour that is my embroidery cotton

I had such a nice Monday yesterday. I went to Kadina and was able to get lots of bits and pieces done. I finally took my engagement ring in to the jeweler to get re-sized so that I can wear it on the right finger after wearing it on my middle finger two months.
I also visited with a good friend who id not caught up with propperly in a few years. I spent time with my friend Kylie and my little god son Jayden. I started working full time just before he was born and one of the big down sides was that I had been looking forward to being able to spend lots of time with them and help her with him so we are deffinately both very pleased that I will be able to pop in many Mondays now. I had yummy soup for tea at Mum and Dads and then came home with enough time to do a little knitting and stitching before bed.

 More and more bulbs are coming up around our garden. The day care boys love the green spikes. We also have seeds coming up. The most exciting for us all are the peas, a definite winter favourite here. I only planted a few to see if the weather had cooled enough for them to survive. So far so good! Ill be spending ANZAC day tomorrow putting up poles for lots more peas to grow up.

 Hello calendulars!

For more crafting on visit Frontier Dreams

Yarn along

Two years ago i knitted this peasy cardigan

  I was never very happy with the colour as id bought the wool online and the colour wasn't what I expected (I'm not sure if you can tell its sort of a khaki green colour). I decided to dye it blue instead

 First time I pulled it out of the dye pot I washed it and it was an even uglier green! Thankfully after anther soak with extra colour added it came out just right

So perfect in fact that when I pulled it out the colour looked familiar. I went and got my favourite beanie that my Oma knitted me a few years ago and realised that they were almost a perfect match! I love it and I'm so pleased that I finally got around to dying it.

Considering I admitted that I finished knitting the peasy two years ago I better stop cheating and post something that I am still knitting:) Ive begun a citron shawl with the left over yarn from my grey cardi. I love this yarn and I'm loving this easy pattern

For my birthday that's coming up in a month and a half Benny's getting me a spinning wheel and I'm wondering what to get. Ive spun a little before but the wheel I have is rather shall we say 'antique'.  

I'm wanting to get an Ashford and I'm thinking a Kiwi or Joy. Id like a kiwi because I've heard they're good for beginners, I like that they are mostly solid wood and id love to paint the wheel.

On the other hand I'm wondering if a Joy would grow with my ability longer as I get better at spinning (not sure about this, opinions..?) I love that it folds up as our house is fairly small and half taken over by my daycare. I also think the larger bobbin size would be good.

Benny loves the look of the Joy because its more modern looking I suppose but I kind of love the cuteness of the Kiwi.

Price isn't too much of a problem as I've been saving extra so that I can make up the difference if I decide to go with the Joy.

If anyone has experience with these wheels or opinion id love to know what you think would suit a beginner with a small amount of experience best. It would be helpful as I've been obsessing over the decision just a little!

anyhow, happy Yarn Along!

goodmorning

 Goodmorning everyone. I hope you all woke up to a morning as beautiful as mine. I love a misty morning dont you? Time to pick the last of my herbs in case we get frost. I already have handfuls of them drying in the kitchen smelling delightful

 After a long hot summer the veggie patch is starting to come back to life. I still have pumpkins, watermellons and corn growing. Some broad beans have come up so I planted some peas. Fingers crossed the weather stays cool enough for them. Im so excited for my first winter with this veggie patch. Last year we moved in about june and got some winter veg planted but this year I have twice as many garden beds and a fow extra months of planting. Ive been adding lots of lawn clippings and compost to each bed and rotating the chickens to fertilise and turn each on. One disadvantage to housing the chickens on the the garden beds will be less self seeding but for the nutrients they give and how easy it is i decided I could live with that. I hope to still get a few self seeded plants because I love the suprise!

 Ive been moving about the garden beds on this side of the garden (the whole veggie patch is an L shape) . Looking forward to having fires very soon

Today is also such a nice cozy day for knitting (but then again, every day is good for knitting if you ask me)