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!!

crafty women

i'm lucky with our playgroup to be surrounded by a group of very crafty women :-)

last year we embarked on a fundraising mission, using the power of crochet!

so far we've made a cot blanket-

a bassinet blanket-

a super cute doll's blanket (which i think has actually been claimed by the playgroup babies ;-) ) -

and we've almost finished a single bed blanket using hand-dyed rainbow colours! -

there are also these lovely squares, which i don't know what they are destined to be!

they all need blocking before we can sell them, but they're already filled with a whole lot of care & attention!

it's an integral part of our playgroup philosophy that parents/carers be productively occupied, be it cleaning, crafting, mending, gardening etc, so crochet is a perfect way to spend our morning!

One for my Dad...

déjà vu at all?

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!

dose of reality

there is often talk in the blogging world of how blogs can give a false impression of reality.. particularly with craft blogs it can seem like people are whipping off amazing things every hour of the day...

well i'm not one of them. i've been pretty busy, and yet have a whole lot of *not much* to show for it.

for example-
a jumper for lexi that i'm *not* knitting, cos my needles are too short.

a patch of dirt where there were weeds...

a pair of booties that i gave away this morning *without* taking a photo first..

a restoration project that isn't yet...
"Lot 666; a spinning wheel in pieces.." nope not quite right huh.. ;-)

a ball that i *haven't* needle felted fully yet...

a doll whose hair isn't fixed yet..

a secret project that i *can't* take a photo of yet.. AND, through my amazing photographic prowess, a photo of all the assorted projects that i haven't even started yet!

and so on & so forth.

but i can show you a little bit of our quinoa!
i've only threshed perhaps 1/4 of it so far (threshing in my little world = popping the seed heads into an inside-out pillowcase [no seams to get caught in, cunning huh?] & rubbing the whole lot around in my hands or under foot), but i've got almost a litre of it thus far :-)
yeah, yeah, yeah i know, you aren't supposed to measure dry stuff by the litre, but the blender was the only handy thing around. call it almost 4 cups if you prefer ;-)

and finally...

say hello to Eli Tzari Greenfield :-) (silent T..)

Born yesterday morning (08.05.08) at 9.29am, at home in a pool!
He weighed 3.18kg/7lb, has all the right fingers & toes, and is beautifully healthy & pink!
Labour took around 5.5hours, and was a perfect textbook birth :-)
He's making an excellent progress with feeding, and is being excessively doted on by his big sister!

Project List update!

I posted this project list waaaay back in january of last year, so it's slightly overdue for an update methinks!

The original list is the 1st bunch in each category, then stuff that has been added, and possibly completed, afterwards :-)

House
- De-clutter - work in progress
- Build kitchen & laundry toddler gates - DONE!
- Make some kind of washing basket for our room - scrapped...
- Do bookshelves, incl. monster study one - on hold...
- Decorate toy boxes - scrapped.. well, replaced really.

Garden
- Prep end of front garden vege patch - DONE!
- Tidy back section - work in progress
- Build sandpit - DONE!
- Clear car-port - was done, now a work in progress again..
- Tidy strip along path - still waiting...
- try to produce all our lettuce, carrots, tomatoes, cucumber & potatoes, when in season - ha ha ha ha ha...well, doing ok with the cucumbers!

Knitting
- finish cardi that will hopefully fit zoe - DONE! didn't fit tho...
- knit cardi for alexis - DONE!
- new beanie for alexis - still waiting..
- new beanie for paul - still waiting..
- scarf for me - DONE!

- 07 longies for alexis - DONE!
- sour worm socks for me - DONE!
- nb rainbow longies - DONE!
- dishcloths - DONE!
- 08 longies for alexis - DONE!
- 3m blue ribbed jumper - DONE!
- nb rainbow socks - DONE!
- nb purple & blue socks - DONE!
- nb purple, blue & white beanie - DONE!
- 3m deep purple 'sporty car coat' - DONE!
- small longies - work in progress..
- 6m side-opening jumper
- med. longies
- mixed beanies & socks for bub
- socks for alexis
- socks for me
- next size up cardi for alexis

Sewing
- new star pul cover/pocket - DONE!
- few more pockets - DONE!
- new inserts (hopefully the bamboo will arrive soon!) - DONE!
- rag doll for alexis - scrapped...
- PJ's for alexis - DONE!
- Finish her sleepsack - DONE!

-pressie bib & taggies - DONE!
- alexis' raincape - DONE!
- new small wetbag - DONE!
- big wetbag - DONE!
- ABC bag - DONE!
- stroller bag - DONE!
- midwinterSS07 pants & shirt - DONE!
- roman blinds - DONE!
- raincape for sale - DONE!
- PJs for kadyn - DONE!
- 07/08 summer pants & shorts for kids - DONE!
- daisy denim dress for alexis - DONE!
- xmas stockings - DONE!
- rain/sand pants for kids & SS07 pressie - DONE!
- raincapes for Rach's littlest ladies - DONE!
- 8x small snappiable pocket-fitteds - DONE!
- reversible art smock for zoe d. - DONE!
- 8x small pockets - DONE!
- small inserts - work in progress...
- swaddle wrap/s
- winter 08 pants for kids
- merino tops and/or pants for kids
- more pressie taggies & bibs

Dyeing
- Dye prefolds with procion - DONE!
- Playsilks (when they arrive!) with koolaid - DONE!
- more wool with my koolaid - DONE! plenty of it..
- some hemp & bkt with procion - still waiting..

- woollen onesies & tees - DONE!
- overdye cherry soaker - DONE!
- dye BKT & hemp for small stash - DONE!

Everything else
- Do 2007 page in paul's fathers day book - DONE!
- make xmas cards (well in advance!) - scrapped..
- make playdoh! - DONE! several times even..

- kadyn's 4th birthday cake - DONE!
- paul's 32nd b'day cake - DONE!
- xmas choc-dipped spoons & biscotti - DONE!
- advent calenders - DONE!
- revamp dolls house - DONE!
- alexis' 2nd b'day cake - DONE!
- my 25th b'day cake - DONE!

so i have been, and evidentially will continue to be, pretty busy huh?! ;-D

big project..

can you tell what that is? lol

yup, its my latest project :-D and its been taking up a *lot* of my spare time!
As of today i've been working at it for 13 weeks and 6 days, the basic framework is all in place, but there is plenty more building & finishing to do!

Should be finished sometime around the 11th of may hopefully! :-)

My Projects List.. eek...

oh dear.. this is my to-do list...

House
- De-clutter
- Build kitchen & laundry toddler gates
- Make some kind of washing basket for our room
- Do bookshelves, incl. monster study one
- Decorate toy boxes

Garden
- Prep end of front garden vege patch
- Tidy back section
- Build sandpit
- Clear car-port
- Tidy strip along path
- try to produce all our lettuce, carrots, tomatoes, cucumber & potatoes, when in season

Knitting
- finish cardi that will hopefully fit zoe (only 1 sleeve & collar to go!)
- knit cardi for alexis
- new beanie for alexis
- new beanie for paul
- scarf for me

Sewing
- new star pul cover/pocket
- few more pockets
- new inserts (hopefully the bamboo will arrive soon!)
- rag doll for alexis
- PJ's for alexis
- Finish her sleepsack

Dyeing
- Dye prefolds with procion
- Playsilks (when they arrive!) with koolaid
- more wool with my koolaid
- some hemp & bkt with procion

Everything else
- Do 2007 page in paul's fathers day book
- make xmas cards (well in advance!)
- make playdoh!

thats all i can think of for now, tho i'll probably be adding to it as time goes on.. and hopefully crossing things off too! eek...