I Have My Cake.........

......and will eat it too!

White Birthday Cake with Italian Meringue

Yes I'm shamelessly blogging on my birthday......decided to make the most of it as usually it gets minor attention due to the fact that many in our family have birthdays this month.... 8 years ago we were waiting for Sage to arrive...due on the 17th he stayed in over my birthday and then my husband's (the 23rd) and arrived on the 26th....
Being a kid his birthday takes precedence over his parent's (he's been counting down the days to his happy day for over a month now).....and we have a niece who shares David's birthday too....there are more but you get the picture!.......so I'm going to milk mine for all it's worth!

Knits In Action

My sister and hubby very kindly donned their woollies during what is the tail end of New Zealand's summer and took some requested photos of the garments that I made them:
As you can see Nick's vest does indeed fit perfectly....so relieved...and he looks rather dashing in it!

I designed and made this sweater for my sister more than a year ago and still haven't done anything about writing up the pattern!! This was partly due to the fact that I thought I wanted to change the raglan to a set-in sleeve...but now that I see it again on Beth I quite like how it looks....neckband ribbing is looking a bit baggy however.....must revisit this pattern soon!

Big kisses to Beth and Nick for lovely modeling!

I Can Sew Cute Stuff!!

It is known within my household that the sewing machine and I should not be left alone......we fight.......I curse.......the machine malfunctions.......it is never pretty......
But then one day (this past week) we made peace:

Nieces and friends were in in need of birthday presents.

Maya takes credit for all the wee animal faces......we had a hard time making them look happy!!

Yes there are some imperfections in my machine sewing but hey....nothing broke and I remained calm...that's the important thing!

It has to be said that I had a major helping hand with this super user-friendly sewing book (discovered when reading this post of Kat's)

......when it comes to needle and thread I need it all spelled out in the most simple terminology.......I literally haven't a clue.....but after this positive experience I can almost imagine a sewing corner filled with beautiful fabric like this one

It's All Such A Hoot!

Who could resist knitting a jumper with so much personality?............not me apparently!

Kate's OWLS has been a big hit in the knitting world with many wonderful versions taking flight.....mine was adapted for Maya who requested a front pocket (for storing snacks for the owls of course) and a longer length.

I kept the overall shaping and it does indeed fit her like a glove.....here's hoping she doesn't burst out of it before she has a chance to enjoy it during a Massachusetts winter!

As you can tell a lot of hilarity was had during our photo shoot...(many out-takes believe me)......but she can be a serious wee soul sometimes:

To show her thanks Maya drew me this!

Project Spectrum

I've decided to take part in Lolly's 4th Project Spectrum......those participating will be exploring the Compass Rose and the colours/season/material and elements associated with each direction. There are no hard and fast rules with how to take part, thankfully ........each to his own!

The first grouping is North/Green/Winter/Stones-Gems-Rocks/Earth for the months of March and April
As I have started to explore my photography more in depth I've decided to focus on photo collages (as above) and will include at least one knitting project.

To get me started I've used some photos from my stay in Shetland a few months ago. This seems apt considering it's northerly location and it's landscape of green and stone.
My heart and mind are drawn in this direction on a daily basis when I think of my family and place of birth.

Also included in this mosaic are: a photo of some stone Georgian architecture in Edinburgh, the home and lush garden I'm returning to in Massachusetts in a few months time and some shots of the knitting project I'll be working on.
I've picked the Astrid shawl (Rav Link) by Norah Gaughan for the knitting aspect..... I've been smitten with it since seeing this one. It also kind of resembles snowflakes which fits nicely into the Winter theme.
I'm using Shibui sock yarn in a green called Wasabi.....I've only completed 1 of the large circles so far and have 12 more of them to go, 14 mediums and 25 small ones!!

Our House.....In The Middle of Our Woods

Subtitle: Going Home!

This is our house in Shutesbury, Massachusetts which we left almost 3 years ago.....we were only supposed to be gone for 9 months but we got side-tracked along the way by the offer of a good teaching job (for my husband).....however........we have not settled into our life in Fresno and have pined for this house in the woods and the wonderful community surrounding it......so for the sake of a happy family (and believe me this makes us all so happy) we have decided to move back to Western Mass this summer!
Thankfully we never sold the house.

(Yes it may seem crazy to some to actually give up employment in this current job loss climate....but David already has a job that he wants to now devote all his time to.....he's a successful international author.....)

WEBS will once again be my local yarn store...hooray!

Flexible Francis

Francis caught my eye a while ago, particularly after seeing these two versions. Feeling the desire for a quick and simple project to relieve the designing part of my brain I decided to create my own interpretation.

I had a fairly different gauge than the pattern called for so I mostly made it up as I went along....the beauty of the top down raglan being those golden opportunities to try as you go...and rip back if it isn't working! I did some unraveling and changed the increases on the sleeves, also choosing to work a few more rounds of texture at the hem and cuffs (mock rib).I used Cascade Eco-Wool Plus for the first time (in a colour called Fern that isn't very well represented in my highly edited photoshop pictures).
Great value for money but fairly workhorse ...think I would have preferred something with a little more drape for this project.....oh well, it will still get some use!

OK.......back to the drawing the board!
(Edited to add some more images)!