Merry Chrismas Folks!

Yeah - in case you live in a dark box - it's christmas - so get out there people - have some merry times - don't just indulge yourself - go mad, get excessive - cos it's another 12 months until you have to face anymore home-made mince pies!!

no knitting - all sewing!

A final stab at craftiness this weekend - using 1m metre of cotton I made a little slip which converts to a top. I wore it with my 3/4 tights on Sunday and although I'm really happy with it as a top it's too see-through and a bit clingy around my butt/thighs - so it's on the chopping block for permanent shortening (which is a whole lot easier than trying to "shorten" my butt at Xmas time!!).

I forgot to mention a friend's Tiramisu recipe used a couple of weeks ago which was HELLO "food of the gods"! It was a real old style one with brandy, espresso, raw eggs and mascarpone. It is soooooo my summer dessert - that and Bec's Savoy Cabbage Salad, margaritas and eggplant/feta stacks on the BBQ. In fact I have no idea how rich a tiramisu could be but many spoonfuls of leftovers had to be endured even after 8 people had a go - is it wrong to eat tiramisu for breakfast?

Oh and in complete stupid xmas-time office antics, I made some blackberry holders out of a bunch of old coporate ties - I reckon it's the new corporate gift the BB holder - way better than monogram-ed golf balls that go straight into bushes on the course, CD calendars photoshoped by IT staff in their lunchbreak, extra large golf shirts for giants or monogram-ed pens which look expensive but aren't cos they break on the second week (yeah cheers mate).

oh dear - how I find time to do such silly things in the office or why I am blogging first thing on a Monday instead of WORKING amazes me - that's the power of procrastination people - ain't it neat!!

Don't look Pezstar!!

Wow what a weekend - I'm stuffed and can only find the energy to blog and avoid work emails!! I finished heaps of crafting projects that have been sitting around, in and amongst mowing lawns, cutting hedges and painting fences. I also ate a couple of chocolate santas - just a few - they kept popping up everywhere, sometimes even naked! Naughty, pesky chocolate santas - chomp, chomp, chomp. Chomp.

First off the list were my second set of knitted cushions in Debbie Bliss cotton. They were dismally nothing like I envisaged so I stuck some paua shell buttons on them and left them in the spare room. It's the lining issue - I definitely needed to create an inner as the knitted fabric stretches too much.

Completed my Q4 Ravelry bag swap and will send it soon but didn't want to wait for the photos - so don't look PezStar. Used 2 balls of Asford Tekapo and with double strands knitted a rectangle of Bramble stitch. Sewed it up with some recycled handles and lined it with some cotton.

Finished off a scarf for a London friend - acrylic but textured yarn which I backed with some polar fleece - should warm the cockles for her!!

Baked a banana birthday cake for Jennine - you can't go wrong with the Edmond's recipe folks.

And I used the first of the vege garden greens to cook a chicken risotto with peas, rocket and spinach. oh look at my babies cooking!!

And now I can say a big thanks to Cleo, Alise, Therese, Millie & Gabrielle for my xmas decorations - they are awesome and on the tree (and mantelpiece)!

now ... onto those work emails!

Kiwi Crafters Unite for Christmas!

I've started getting some decorations in the post from the Kiwi Crafting Christmas Decoration swap run by Twenty Cent Mixture - I'll put photos up of the ones received once they've all come in. Everyone has such cool ideas - I'm fearful mine is looking a bit fuddy-duddy now.

I decided to go with a kiwi theme and use a kowhai flower design. I really enjoyed the chain-stitching and it was relatively easy to trace the pattern onto the fabric. I think the key was using a simple shape and then infilling it with colour. I added 2 little red glass beads for the stema/stoma/stamen - end bit of flower (!).

While I tried to recycle as much as I could out of my big stash of craft resources (nice piece of raw linen, thrifted embroidery threads, beads from an old necklace), I did end up buying some new ribbon in the local haberdashery (I love that word - HA-BER-DASH-ERY - it reminds me of the Flintstones and Johnny Depp in costume). It's french ribbon and I liked the peace doves on it as the Mumbai attacks had just occurred when I was looking.

So the end result isn't quite what I envisaged - I think it was the stuffing in the end. I had thought of filling it with mixed spice or cinnamon bark - but less time, lesser time and no time left meant standard filler was added and it's ended up puffier than I hoped for.

Well done all you kiwi crafters who participated and thanks to Twenty Cent Mixture for organising it so well!

It's hardly knitting but just as enjoyable!

Chilled pinot rose anyone? oh la la look at that colour - and BTW it tasted just as sassy in the sun while KM helped me create some zucchini-prison-blocks for me!

more sassy reds ... first crop of the vege garden - a massive radish found hanging out with a zucchini flower. I promptly sat down to munch on it in a zen, self-sufficient gardner's moment. Very shortly after that moment, I learnt that you have to harvest a radish as soon as it's fat - otherwise they are bitter as hell and give you a belly-ache!

With the wedding sewing chaos is over, I don't want to lose that precious crafting mojo so I'm getting on with my Kiwi Xmas swap. Trying something a little new for me - EMbroidery thankyouverymuchly - after being constantly inspired by that artful Melissa. Photos once I'm finished .... have a good week people!