Happy Snaps

Some recent happy snaps.

Recent Knits

I can't even think of all I've done over the last month and a bit. Mostly I've been working on a jumper for Nicholas.

I also made a pair of flower beanies for Hannah and Ailey. (I don't have a picture of Ailey yet).

And a library bag for Makayla.

Relay 4 Life

Well it's been AAAAAAGES since I posted anything so I thought I might get my act together!

Relay 4 Life was great this year. We had an absolutely perfect day weather-wise. The day was pretty hectic especially with face painting during the day. We painted lots of little faces and big faces too. The Art Gallery was not as successful as we would have liked it to be. It was on the outside of the track for starters which didn't get a lot of traffic. But the main reason for the disappointing prices fetched by such great works was that I really messed up with the method of my silent auction. I'll know better for next year and hopefully we get some good donations again.

Having said that we still managed to raise $950 on the art and overall $2080. So it was not a bad effort at all!

Thanks to all who donated money, art or time. xxx

Relay for Life - Art Donations

In the Next Egistenze - by Yvonne
Wow, what a wonderful response to a request for Art Donations for the Relay! I asked my good friend Aisha to paint something for the relay but, understandably, having a 3 month old at home she really is pressed for time, so she kindly asked her art class mates to make a donation. So far we have three art works donated. Two from her teacher Yvonne
Abstract - Nina De Rome

and one from Dave's mum Natalie. I think there is one more coming.


Hydrangeas Dup - Natalie Dunsford

These works will be auctioned off on the day to raise money for the Cancer Council. So along with Jade's gorgeous quilt we should have some interest in these items on the day. If you would like to place a bid, please email me here.

Thank you so much for the kind donations Jade, Yvonne, Natalie and Aisha. :) xxx

Monograms

Two of my nieces are having birthdays this week and I was inspired to make them some Monograms for their rooms. I saw these in a scrapbooking magazine and had to try my hand at them. I'm really happy with how my "B" worked out (for an 8 year old). The colours will suit B's room too. Hope she likes it.

I used this groovy gold paint around the edges which adds a nice touch. I glued on some scrapbooking papers and sanded around the edges to distress the paper. Then I roughly added some more gold paint. Then I glued on some embellishments. It would have been nice to use beads or ribbon or lace but I didn't have much on hand.

The "M" was more playful as it is for a 3 year old.

Needling

Well, the last week has been spent knitting obsessively ("needling" as Hannah calls it) and I have finally finished Evelyn's Shrug. It's a bit snug on me so I hope it fits her well. (I will get a pic with her wearing it at some stage). But here it is in all it's creamy glory.

The pattern came from Issue 21 of the Australian Creative Knitting magazine. I was really impressed with this magazine and the patterns in it. They are fresh and new with a few quirky things thrown in.

The shrug complete I was able to start on some hats from Jade's book.

This is a great book and the patterns are quite easy to understand even though they are in japanese. The graphical patterns are very obvious and the hats are quick to make. I think I will probably end up crotcheting more than knitting beanies for the Relay 4 Life.

Here is the first one I tackled modelled by my Hannah, so cute. It does fit me too, although I would have liked it to be a bit more bulky, needed to use heavier weight yarn and fatter hook. So I am going to make this hat again as soon as I can get some nice yarn (like the one I got Jade for her birthday).

C25K - Week 8

Well, week 8 started out good. I ran from Valley Heights to Blaxland, 4.3km, in 28 minutes. There were a couple of tricky hill bits which beat me and I had to walk for a few meters, but other than that it went well. Unfortunately the rest of the week was a no show... what a slacker. To be fair I do have a cold and am still coughing quite a bit. I'm starting week 8 again as soon as this cough clears a bit more.

A pretty slack week....

Busy Needles

It's been a while since I posted some craft... I have been busy with the knitting and crochet and have been avoiding the computer a bit. I've been mostly crocheting. This Curly Scarf was made for Elisha as a birthday gift. It looks lovely on her. I really loved making this one as it was so easy to carry around and the pattern is quite easy so I could just crochet without having to refer to the pattern too often. It only took me three night time TV sessions.

This crochet/ sewn bag has been on the craft table for a while now. I LOVE the wool I used. It was so chunky and looks really great. It's a blend of wool and alpaca, it's a bit scratchy for a nice scarf so I thought it would be great for this bag from one of my Japanese books.

I made some braids for the handles and sewed them onto interfaced strips of material for strength. The lining was made out of a nice stripey cotton and interfaced with a heavy weight interfacing to give the bag some shape.

I did make one silly mistake. I should have joined the crochet base with the top front and then attached the lining and handles. I got a bit carried away and attached the handles and lining to the top front first and then I couldn't use the sewing machine to attach the base! I couldn't bare to unpick the topstitching and risk ruining the good job I had done of attching the handles! So I hand-sewed the base on with big stitches in the hope that it would look like that's how it was supposed to be. It looks ok, next time I'll try and think ahead a bit more. oops. :)

Now I am busy knitting a shrug for my sister-in-law as a birthday present. It's taking up all my spare time, my cleaning time, my cooking time.... the kids are waiting longer for everything these days too! I should be finished over the weekend. Then I can start on some of the groovy hats in the japanese book Jade lent me.

C25K - Week 7

Just finished my last run for week 7. What a killer!!

I ran 4.4km in 25 minutes. It KILLS my legs but I'm so proud of myself! Paul still didn't believe I can do it so he ran with me today pushing the pram. He's blown away.

Week 8's plan is:

Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then jog 4.5km (or 28 minutes).

That extra 3 minutes is going to be TOUGH......

Relay 4 Life - Penrith 2008 - Knitting Challenge

Well, it's close to that time of year again where the Boere Tribe get together and walk for 24 hours to raise money for Cancer Research. This year the Penrith Relay 4 Life is on the 10th May at Howell Oval. Most people know someone who has been fighting some kind of cancer or who has lost the battle. In our family it is way too familiar. Paul's mum lost her battle to cervical cancer at the young age of 42. My aunt recently passed away from ovarian cancer. My uncle died from prostate cancer, my grandmother from breast cancer and now my dad is also fighting prostate cancer.

A little bit further removed we have some friends that are affected by "c". Thankfully they are doing fine and continue to be vigilant in monitoring their health regularly.

So, this year we are going to try some different approaches to fund raising. We will ask for straight up donations which you can make by clicking on here. We will be face painting and colour spraying hair on the day. I have asked some friends to donate artworks which will be auctioned off. I am going to try and make as many scarves and beanies as I can to sell. It gets Bloody cold walking at 3am!!

So I have a request for all you crazy crochet and knitting buffs - if you want to help how about donating a scarf or a beanie or both? If you feel you want to help, please contact me and we can organise to get them posted out here. Anything will be much appreciated. Or maybe you have heaps of wool scraps around that we can knit into scarves?

So, help us support the Cancer Council.

:)

C25K - Week 6

Well, week 6 started out relatively easy and the first two days went smoothly and were even enjoyable. Day 3 involved a straight 25minutes of running. I decided to run to Paul's dad's place (5.5km). I ran for 19 minutes and was doing good, but then I hit a killer hill, you know those slow rising, but long hills? Yeah that's the one. It killed me and I had to walk for a few minutes (also to cross the highway and cross a very narrow bridge). I ran a further 800m after this to make up for my failure to complete the 25 minutes non stop. So, I'm a bit disappointed in that. I should have planned the run better and gone a different way which didn't involve stopping to cross the highway.

Moving right along to week 7's plan:

All 3 days are,

Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then jog 4km (or 25 minutes).

New Cushions

I finished my cushions last night. I'm so happy with them! :)

Here they are...

Getting back to sewing

I splurged a little at spotlight when they had their 25% off everything sale a couple of weeks ago.

This fabric is destined to become some cushions for the lounge - thanks to inspiration from Jade and also one of Jade's blogger friends who makes cushions - Tutti Frutti. They really are gorgeous and if mine turn out even half as nice I'll be happy. In anycase, the lounge is in need of some colour and style so I'll do my best to pep it up a bit with these cushions....

C25K - Week 5

Week 5 started off okay. But I did the last run today - 20 minutes straight - 3.2km. I was struggling in the last 3 minutes but I kept going and I did make it all the way, so I'm happy with that.

Week 6 plan is as follows:

Day 1:

Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then:
Jog 800m (or 5 minutes)
Walk 400m (or 3 minutes)
Jog 1.2km (or 8 minutes)
Walk 400m (or 3 minutes)
Jog 800m (or 5 minutes)

Day 2:

Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then:
Jog 1.6km (or 10 minutes)
Walk 400m or 3 minutes)
Jog 1.6km (or 10 minutes)

Day 3:

Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then jog 3.6km (or 25 minutes) with no walking.

Crochet Hat

I made this lovely hat from this book.



But it was meant to be for me. I couldn't quite get what ply or what size hook to use so I improvised and it turned out too small for me but just right for Hannah.

Must have another go......

Driveway Progress

We had a very productive weekend on the driveway. Thanks to my mum and dad who helped us SOOOOOO much. Mum was housekeeper, cook and nanny all weekend so I could get down and dirty with Paul and get a good start on the driveway. We went pretty slow on the first two days as we were getting into the swing and working on fiddly bits. I even did some bricklaying on a small retaining wall!!!

Then on Sunday all the Boere's were here and we got the massive area in front of the garage done in one day. It looks amazing. We still have edging and retaining walls to build there and the rest of the driveway entrance to do but we did bite off a huge chunk and it feels GOOD!!!!

C25K Week 4

Man, week 4 is a KILLER!!! The first day was so hard but I made it... just! Paul ran with me on the second run for the week and of course he was fine but did manage to at least break a sweat. He was suprised at how well I am going seeing as how he really knows how unfit I am! My pace is not as slow as I thought it was as he thought it a good pace for him. So I'm a bit proud of myself now he he he. The third run was okay and I managed to go a fair way over the whole 40 minutes - 4.9kms!

Week 5's plan is different for each of the three days:

Day 1:

Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then:
Jog 800m (or 5 minutes)
Walk 400m (or 3 minutes)
Jog 800m (or 5 minutes)
Walk 400m (or 3 minutes)
Jog 800m (or 5 minutes)

Day2:

Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then:
Jog 1.2km (or 8 minutes)
Walk 800m (or 5 minutes)
Jog 1.2km (or 8 minutes)

Day 3:

Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then jog 3.2km(or 20 minutes) with no walking!!!!!

More Paper Tole Fairies

This weeks craftiness resulted in this little framed fairy picture for Hannah's room:

Ailey also needed her name on the door: