Ok, this is a tad embarrassing..

I just emptied out my to finish box.

I think this might be the crafters equivalent of a Rorschach test... says a lot about ones personality, but exactly *what* it says is a little harder to discern!

there is -

the fifty-million waldorf pocket dolls aforementioned.

3x pocket nappies cut out ready for sewing

a bed-wetting mattress cover thingy cut out ready to sew

3x pocket nappies needing their last 4 snaps each put on them (oops)

a dress needing 3 buttons sewn on (oops)

a pair of 3/4 pants for lexi that just need waistband elastic (oops)

a calico shopping bag that needs a hole overlocked (oops)

So umm... 4x 5min jobs, 1x 10min job, 3x 30min jobs that I've been putting off for, uhh, forever.

And the dolls.

Finish it February

On one of the forums I'm on, it has been declared Finish It February!!

This was my list on the 31st of Jan-

- Maia's 2012 winter cardi
- re-do sleeves on my disastrous Corona hoodie 
- overlock fraying prefolds - DONE! 01.02
- fix lexi's PJ pants - DONE! 01.02
- finish fifty zillion waldorf pocket dolls 
- whatever else is in my "to finish" box 
- button tree pic
- stain & reupholster chairs & dining table
- sew a bunch of baby gifts - one done! 01.02

Unfortunately, this is my "to finish" box, and the two knitting projects.

ONE dining chair has been sanded & given it's first coat of stain, all of the seats are done, and one of the backs. I'm not talking about the table.

And of course I have a bunch of clothes to make for the kids as per usual.

ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaeeeek.

Just to make the task even better, I'm trying to use my stash for everything too. And I do not have one of those wonderful craft stashes filled with gorgeous yarns and fabrics, and every thread and notion known to man. I have fabrics that were $1-2/m at spotlight. I have yarn that was <$3/50g at spotlight. My button stash is predominantly ones that my dad cut off old business shirts.

BUT I'm going to see what I can do! And since the big kids are away this weekend, I'm going to see how much I can get done during that time... Wish me luck!!

Kids Clothing Week round up

ugh i seem to be incapable of achieving a halfway decent photo of any of my stuff at the moment, it seems to be a combination of too bright and too dark at the same time, so you either get dim colours or glare *sigh* so we'll have to just imagine the nice colours ok?

3 pairs of pants for lexi-
two polarfleece in red wine & rich purple colours, and icy blue cords (see what i mean about the colours? :-( )

two merino PJ tops for lexi-
and two for kadyn-
two more pairs of merino baby pants, this time just with the cuff option-

and lexi 'modelling' her new PJs-
they look pretty comfy!

so that makes my tally for the week...
- 1 dress shirt for eli
- 3 pairs of pants for lexi + one pair mended
- a pair of PJ pants each for lexi & kadyn
- 2 merino tops for lexi
- 2 merino tops for kadyn
- 4 pairs of baby merino pants

i also knitted a tiny party dress for one of lexi's favourite baby dolls that got accidentally left behind on our fortnightly custody visit up north, as a consolation present for a very distraught little girl... pics of that to come soonish when we get her back. the doll i mean, not the little girl.

i still need to do another pair of PJ pants for each of the big ones, some winter pants for kadyn, and probably a couple of merino tops for eli (he already has a couple of lightweight thermal ones), but some of those require a trip to the fabric shop since my winter stash is getting low!

kids clothes week day 2ish

two pairs of PJ pants for the big kids(lexi's pair have the friendliest wee dinos you've ever seen on them! which you can't see because of our incredibly sullen winter weather light.. no shiny, bright reflected snow light here!)

the plan is to team them up with merino tops, whenever that happens.

i cut them out last night, along with a couple of pairs of winter pants for lexi.. evidently it takes me the whole hour to sew up two pairs, so i guess that'll be me for tomorrow!

in other news, due to this sewing challenge i also discovered My Sewing Circle.com which is rather like ravelry, but for sewing. if you sign up i'm "novanz" if you wanna be my friend ;-)

paved with good intentions.

ha well i spotted this on a few blogs that i visit-so i thought that it would be a great idea to join in, since i desperately need to get a bunch of things made for the kids before winter really kicks in. the idea is that you spend an hour per day for a week sewing kids clothes, and see what wonderful things you end up with at the end of the week, simple huh? the details are all here....

i had a few things languishing in my to-do drawer- a pair of lexi's pants that needed the waistband fixing, two pairs of merino pants that were never finished before eli was born (!!), and a short-sleeved shirt that i had cut out for eli.

problem one. my overlocker threads had all been terribly tangled by somebody...

(clock is ticking for my 1 hour already)

problem two. my sewing table has been invaded by a colony of monarchs. see-um, ok a close up then- 5 chrysalises and 5 caterpillars (subsisting on butternut squash). see? invaded.

so i had to deal to those first, and then managed to get sewing! i figured since today is day two of the challenge week i would have 2 hours to play with to make up for missed time...

3.5 hours later....
two little pairs of yummy merino pants, one pair with 'proper' cuffs, the other using pale purple fold-over-elastic.. i thought prior that i'd prefer the FOE method, but turns out i like the cuff look better.

and a wee zipped short-sleeved (rotated grr) shirt for eli-
it has cute tiny piggies on it :-)

lessons for the day- when sewing on a mission, a) don't use stretchy fabrics, b) don't choose shirts cos they have too many pieces, c) DON'T do anything with a zip.

anyone care to join in? lol...

One.

.. singular sensation, every little step she takes....

anyhoo, seen this a few places now, should be a challenge due to to general rambliness lol... one word answers-

1. Where is your cell / mobile phone? charging

2. Your hair? brethren ;)

3. Your mother? missed

4. Your father? sunburnt
5. Your favourite food? painauchocolat (that counts as one word right?!)

6. Your dream last night? interrupted

7. Your favourite drink? chocolate

8. Your dream/goal? simplicity

9. What room are you in? lounge

10. Your hobby? changeable

11. Your fear? loss

12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? home

13. Where were you last night? couch

14. Something that you aren’t? motivated

15. Muffins? chocolate

16. Wish list item? swift

17. Where did you grow up? whakatane

18. Last thing you did? groaned

19. What are you wearing? usual

20. Your TV? pre-recorded

21. Your pet? kids

22. Friends? scattered

23. Your life? cluttered

24. Your mood? distracted

25. Missing someone? House

26. Vehicle? MPV

27. Something you’re not wearing? braces

28. Your favorite store? imaginary

29. Your favorite color? blue

30. When was the last time you laughed? 4pm

31. Last time you cried? aisling

32. Your best friend? assorted

33. One place that I go to over and over? ravelry

34. One person who emails me regularly? greenpeace

35. Favorite place to eat? sunny

heh heh... if you want to try it too, or already have, let me know in the comments so i can come & check it out!!

Alexis Astronaut

This afternoon Lexi & I made a rocket for the Stardome Recycled Rocket Competition!

I did most of the base construction (ie cutting up egg cartons lol), but the painting, gluing, concept, sticker making & astronaut creation are all her!
and what would a trip to the stardome be with out the obligatory-
there are more pics of the rocket - including the amazing floating astronaut - on her blog ;-)

challenge!

so. i have this pile of yarn you see... yes, this pile see-
that i have no idea what to do with!
much of it is very nice, very usable stuff, some of it not so much, but essentially i don't have anything in mind for it or any idea what to do with it!!

however, i am a member of what is, in my opinion, the best & greatest resource for knitters -
Ravelry!!
and one of rav's greatest features is the pattern search! with it you can put in what weight yarn you have, how much, what kind of yarn it is, whether you only want free patterns, whether you'd like something for babies, or socks, or whatever!

And so out of that my Nova's Surprise Stash Knit Down project was born!! (NoSurStaKniDo or NSSKD for short, in homage to all those various Na-Kni/Blo/Wri-Mo/Do type things going on)

soooo.. the plan is every time i’m not doing busy with a ‘have to do’ project to pick a hunk of yarn (largely) at random and use the Rav advanced search (that’s the surprise part) to find something, anything, that hopefully appeals and fits the weight/yardage criteria, then knit it as fast as possible! any left over scraps of yarn will immediately be used up by turning them into balls/gnomes/whatever else uses tiny bits of yarn!

Starting with 60g-ish of some 12ply cleckheaton yarn that i had dyed to make into a felted crown, only to discover that duh... it's machine washable wool, thus doesn't felt. So i frogged it & turned it into a Wool Noggin-
and a small and somewhat ugly orange ball. but that will come later as part of the scrappy randoms collection of end-of-ball projects ;-)

then i moved onto some mysterious pinky 10ply cotton that i was given yonks ago, which i had redyed into a semi-solid plum colour, and finally knit it into a mitred hanging tea towel-
and a couple of wavy dishcloths-
so i'm off to a decent start :-)

i've now started on a little bamboo/cotton bodice that will become part of a summer dress for lexi, so watch this space!

Earth Hour!

It's that time again!!

That time of year when people all around the world switch off their lights (or everything) for an hour as a symbolic show of support for the global environmental movement.

VOTE EARTH

YOUR LIGHT SWITCH IS YOUR VOTE

This year, Earth Hour has been transformed into the world’s first global election, between Earth and global warming.

For the first time in history, people of all ages, nationalities, race and background have the opportunity to use their light switch as their vote – Switching off your lights is a vote for Earth, or leaving them on is a vote for global warming. WWF are urging the world to VOTE EARTH and reach the target of 1 billion votes, which will be presented to world leaders at the Global Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen 2009.

This meeting will determine official government policies to take action against global warming, which will replace the Kyoto Protocol. It is the chance for the people of the world to make their voice heard.

Earth Hour began in Sydney in 2007, when 2.2 million homes and businesses switched off their lights for one hour. In 2008 the message had grown into a global sustainability movement, with 50 million people switching off their lights. Global landmarks such as the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, Rome’s Colosseum, the Sydney Opera House and the Coca Cola billboard in Times Square all stood in darkness.

In 2009, Earth Hour is being taken to the next level, with the goal of 1 billion people switching off their lights as part of a global vote. Unlike any election in history, it is not about what country you’re from, but instead, what planet you’re from. VOTE EARTH is a global call to action for every individual, every business, and every community. A call to stand up and take control over the future of our planet. Over 74 countries and territories have pledged their support to VOTE EARTH during Earth Hour 2009, and this number is growing everyday.

We all have a vote, and every single vote counts. Together we can take control of the future of our planet, for future generations.

VOTE EARTH by simply switching off your lights for one hour, and join the world for Earth Hour.

Saturday, March 28, 8:30-9:30pm.

(so the video takes a while on dial-up, but it's worth watching if only to see that it's not just a handful of crazed hippies ok? but what is with the lightbulb on nelly furtado's head?!)

Ok, so last year i was out at the time with a group of lovely friends who thought the idea was rather amusing, but kindly flicked the lights off for a minute for me... and this year we will be staying at the in-laws, who may not be exactly keen, so i'll probably end up sitting quietly in another room alone knitting by candlelight ;-) (beeswax candles for those of you who raise the valid point about parrafin candles possibly not being that much better!)

to any fellow bloggers out there who might be keen, there are plenty of resources provided for bloggers on the website, so spread the word!

and dad, i spotted your new home town on that video, so no letting the side down ok? ;-)

rainbow challenge!

how many colours can you find from your recent (and unblogged) projects?

i've got...
pink & orange - another window star

white & yellow - there would be red too, but, well.. the toddler got it first

blue - my new project board! the fabric is left over from our roman blinds

green - our 1m+ tall silverbeet monster, finally bolting! it has an apprentice down on the left though

green & brown - to-be-felted-crown V2 (work in progress), a sylvan theme with the lovely "green tea" wool i received from our yarn swap!

and for a big rainbow-

a train that lexi made from her beeswax block crayons!