Getting back into the swing of things

I realise I have neglected my little blog of late. Things have been getting on top of me for the past year or so and keeping up with everything was just too much so things had to give until I sorted myself out again.

I have been doing much better recently and I am feeling like it is time to start blogging again. A lot has happened since I last posted so I will catch you up and let you know where I am going with my life in the future (I'm quite excited and scared about the upcoming changes!)

Firstly a few holiday snaps from my 3 week holiday in Australia at the beginning of the year. I went to Perth for 2 weeks to stay with family and then onto Sydney for a week to do touristy things.

Sorry this post is very picture heavy but it was 3 weeks!!

This is the view from my Uncle's flat in South Perth. The Australian's don't actually consider this to be in Perth but with these views I would prefer to live this side of the Swan river!

Obligatory shot of a kangaroo- they were all a bit hot to be hopping around, it was over 40 degrees centigrade out there.

Not particularly Australian but I just really like this shot of the peacock!

Back to the Australian animals with this Koala who seems to be doing some kind of yoga- how can this be comfortable?!

Obviously went to the beach a lot- swam in 3 oceans by the time I was finished. Although I didn't swim here as the rip tide was quite strong even to paddle your feet it was trying to drag you in. There was a natural reef a bit further out which keeps the sharks out.

Watched the sunset over the ocean and these massive container ships totally got in the way but it does actually give a nice contrast to the orange sky so I'll let them off this time.

I was in Perth for Australia Day which seems to be bigger than Christmas out there. This massive Australian flag was flown around a few times during the day by the tiny helicopter.

The fireworks were amazing. The people who organise the Sydney New Year fireworks do Perth for Australia Day. It was really quite strange watching fireworks not all wrapped up with coats, scarves, hats and gloves like we would be here in the UK to watch fireworks as bonfire night and New Years are in winter.

Onto Sydney and even they have bad days in summer. This is Bondi Beach completely deserted except for some hardcore surfers and us Brits who won't let a bit of rain interfere with our beach day!

I think because there are so many beaches and they have a lot more beach good days the Australian beaches are never really packed out. This is Palm Beach otherwise known as Summer Bay in Home and Away completely deserted!

Mandatory picture of the Sydney Opera House and below is the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Sydney's most recognisable landmarks and I have loads of pictures of them from all angles and modes of transport so be grateful I am just showing you one of each!

 

 

I actually climbed the bridge one evening. It was really fun, you climb up the top of the arch cross at the flags at the top and the down again, getting amazing views of the city.

 

 

Now for my exciting news!! I will be returning to Australia at the end of this year, in time for Christmas for a whole year this time. I decided a few months after I returned from my trip that I was not done with Australia, there was still way to much to see and do that I had to go back. So I applied for a working visa which allows me to work and stay in Australia for a whole year. I'm really excited about going but obviously scared about leaving the security of a full time and permanent job, leaving my family and friends behind for a year but I felt it was too good of an opportunity to miss out on and if I didn't take it I would regret it forever. Hey I can always come back of I really hate it!

 

So I now have that to focus on and have so much I need to do before I leave including moving out of my house and packing up all my stuff for a year, organising seeing everyone before I go, working out travel plans and money and how to pack for a year in a suitcase!!

 

I will fill you in on some of my crafty makes in my next post. I'm sure there are lots to show you!

A Handmade Christmas

This year I actually managed to make all my Christmas presents. I of course (as is the true style of crafters!) left it all to the last minute even though I had said to myself I would be more organised about it this time! So after several late nights and early mornings crafting away I produced these presents for my family and friends.

This is a decoration for my friends daughter. I have made her a decoration every year for Christmas and will also make one for her son now as it was his first Christmas (I rushed and ruined my first attempt at his decoration so he hasn't got one yet)

These were some marzipan sweets. I made the marzipan (which is surprisingly easy) and just piped some melted chocolate over the top of them. I made these for my Dad, Grandma and Godmother. I also made Turkish Delight.

I was actually quite organised with the present for my mum and finished it on the 1st December! She decorated her bedroom and it is now plum and Paris themed so when I saw a Paris postcard chart in CrossStitcher I knew I had to stitch it up for her. I changed the colours of the threads to match in with the rooms colour scheme.

This was a top for my cousin. I find males very hard to craft for so decided to just decorate tops for them as it was easy and quick to do! He loves Starbucks and has a collection of mugs from when he goes on his travels around the world.

And this is the one I did for my brother. He is a Philosophy teacher and his favourite 3person is Richard Dawkins, a well know atheist, so when I saw this phrase when searching for sayings to do with him it was perfect!

I stitched this for my Auntie. My Grandma found the material in her house a while ago and it is something that my Great-Grandma has crochet around the edge of but had never got round to putting a design in the middle. I did one for my Grandma a few years ago and have enough to do one for me, Mum and my cousin when I get time so we can all have one. I just need to decide on what to put in the middle for everyone else. My Auntie was easy as she loves poppies!

Staying with the theme for boys of decorating a top. I did one for my friends 5 year old who is obsessed with Doctor Who. I knitted him a tardis for his birthday which I shall show you soon so continued with the theme for Christmas. He recognised what it was when he opened it which was a relief!!

 

And finally a present to the whole family really- a Christmas Cake!! I have never made one before so I used a recipe from Delia and it turned out alright! I don't really like fruit cake anyway but even I could eat this one! I also made a Christmas pudding for my Dad using another Delia recipe- this is yet to be tasted though!

 



 

I just went for simple icing as I have never iced a cake in royal icing before so didn't really know what I was doing but I think it turned out alright! We had a fancy candle to put on it before we cut into it!

I had a good Christmas and hope you all did too? I'm really pleased I managed to make all of my presents this year and am going to say again (as I do every year) that I will start earlier next year with making them!

Illusion Knitting

I have been wanting to try this for a while as I was intrigued as to how it worked and now I've tried it to be honest I still have no idea how or why it works but it looks really cool!!

The idea of illusion knitting is that when you look at it straight on you just see the stripes but when you look at it from an angle a picture or words emerge from the knitting.

I made a cushion for my brother for his birthday. His favourite musical is Les Miserables and after a quick search on Ravelry I found an illusion pattern that was perfect for it.

It didn't take too long to knit up once I had got into the swing of following the pattern.

This is what the front of the cushion looks like from straight on:

But when you look at it from below a recognisable image appears...

Pretty clever no?!

I decided to embroider some lyrics from the musical on the back of the cushion from the song Red and Black as it fitted in with the colour scheme of the cushion.

When it was made into a cushion it was harder to picture the illusion but it was still there!

 

 I definitely want to try more illusion knitting maybe on a scarf or something!

Stock Making

My Auntie offered to do a little craft stall for me at her local cricket club this bank holiday. I've known about this for about 6 months but I obviously left it all until the last minute to actually make stock for it!

Here are some bits I whipped up in the week before I handed it over to my Auntie!

I managed 3 pairs of rabbit bootees one pink, one neutral and one blue. I'm going to have to make some adult sized ones as I want a pair!!

After being unable to find my stencil brush, which of course showed up as soon as I purchased another one, I made some more bags the london skyline one is my favourite. I was planning on trying out some other cities but leaving everything to the last minute meant I couldn't this time.

And some more scrabble bags to replace some letters I had already sold. No doubt people will want ones I haven't done though!

 

I was planning a bicycle one with embroidered flowers in the basket but it needed some tweaking before it was ready so has been added to my massive work in progress pile!

 

I had some other stock including make up bags, cushions, tea cosies and cards as well. I also managed to sew together 3 more hello kitty cushions.

 

 

I haven't heard how the stall went yet- which could mean not very well as its been raining down in Somerset all day! But living in the east I've managed to get a sunburnt face!!

Crafting for a new arrival

My friend has recently had a baby boy. As soon as I found out what she was having I had to start thinking of what to make as a gift for the new arrival. I had made her first baby a little matinee coat and a pair of bootees so I decided to go along the same lines for this baby.

 

How cute are these bunny bootees?! They were from a free pattern in the Daily Mail a month or so ago. And as soon as I saw them I knew they were the perfect ones to make. They were pretty quick to knit up and only had a back seam to sew up. But I did have to look up some of the terminology used as they were new to me- luckily the internet came to the rescue!

This is the jumper I chose to knit for him. I don't like to make the newborn sizes of clothes as they aren't small enough for long enough to get much wear out of them. So I made this is 6-9 months so it will be ready for him over autumn and winter. It is a Debbie Bliss pattern and was really easy to follow and quick to knit- which is good as I tend to get bored with doing rows and rows of the same stitches!

I couldn't leave his big sister out with not gifts. So I made her a little badge so everyone knows that she is proud of her baby brother!

I also made her a doll/teddy carrier for carrying around her toys. I saw a picture on pinterest and was hoping it would take me to a tutorial but it was just a review of a pattern for one in a book so I had to wing how to construct one but I am pretty impressed with the results. It had to have a dinosaur pocket on the front because is obsessed with dinosaurs and pockets!!

I do love making things for babies and children. Just need to convince some more friends they want to have a baby so I can craft some more tiny things!!

Easter

I know Easter was nearly a whole week ago now but I still have the remnants in my kitchen waiting to be consumed!

I couldn't afford chocolate eggs for everyone so I knitted little chicks from a Jean Greenhowe pattern I spotted on Ravelry which can be found here and brought some creme eggs to sit inside them. I didn't have and googly eyes so just had to stitch some on but I think they still look pretty cute. And they decorated the table nicely.

I also decided to try my hand at some proper easter baking. I picked up Paul Hollywoods 'How to Bake' a month or so ago and decided to make Hot Cross buns and Simnel cake using his recipes in the book. And then luckily both were made on the Great British Bake off easter special so I got some extra tips on how to knead the dough etc! I haven't made bread since school (except in a bread maker) so was really pleased with how these turned out- they look like actual Hot Cross buns that you would buy in a shop and tasted better I'd say!!

And my simnel cake (although never really tasted one before) also tasted very yummy! But I love marzipan so it wouldn't take much to please me! I even made the marzipan myself- I thought it would be so tricky and thats why people just buy it but it really wasn't and took less time to make than it would to drive to the shops and buy a block.

A very nice easter all round made even better by the fact that I had Easter Monday off work!! I am going to make it a tradition to make hot cross buns every year now I think and I enjoyed making them a lot so will try out different breads between now and then.

Hope you all had a lovely easter and did anyone craft or bake things?

A week in Somerset

I was lucky enough to have a weeks holiday left from work so I went with my mum to visit my auntie in Somerset. She lives near Wells and can see the Glastonbury Tor from her house. It is so lovely and peaceful to spend a week.

 



One of our day trips was to Bath as I hadn't been there since I was little. We had a lovely sunny day and stopped off in the Jane Austen tea rooms for a hot chocolate!

The best view in Bath has got to be of Pulteney Bridge especially on such a lovely day!

We took a strole up to The Circle and the Royal Crescent. Imagine getting to live in one of these houses?

I loved the reflection in the water. Whilst at my auntie's in the evening I got a lot of cross stitching done on my Royal Wedding sampler which I'll be able to show you soon. I may even get it finished before their two year anniversary!!

Signs of spring were all around! This picture brightens up the return of winter which seems to have appeared over the last few days.

This was a view Alexandra Park of bath. It looked like toy town from up there especially when the train left the station and started travelling around the edge of the city.

But its back to work now unfortunately!!