So blogging has taken a bit of a back seat for me the last few months. I'm sure you can forgive me as there's just been so many new things to experience as a family in this new country we're calling home!
Shovelling snow off the pond to try ice-skating!
Our latest adventure is all about the snow. Where we lived in New Zealand it basically doesn't get snow so it's all new for us! It's the first time I've really been able to see the point in accessory knitting - the girls hardly ever wore hats, gloves or scarves before, but now it's a necessity. I've been knitting constantly since it started getting cold and I still have a list a mile long of things I need to knit for this winter. And I don't have any photos of anything I've knit becasue as soon as it's off the needles, it's being used!
The girls in their snow gear off to school
But I have even more exciting news to share!
When looking for yarn to buy online, it didn't take me long to notice that I had no chance of buying from my favourite NZ dyers. Usually their stockings, which sell out in minutes, are up for sale at 8pm NZ time which is 2am here (i.e. the middle of the night!) and I wasn't going to stay up that late.
This also made me realise that most people in North America probably have never had the opportunity to knit with any of this great NZ wool either. Having done a little yarn dyeing before and a space I could set up solely for the purpose, I contacted a NZ wool mill about getting un-dyed yarn sent over here. As it turned out, I could get wool from NZ at a price reasonable enough to dye and sell here.
And that was the start of Little Fantail Yarns!
Click on the picture to see what I have for sale on Etsy
So far it's just in the infant stages, selling a few different bases on Etsy, but I hope to add luxury NZ yarns in the future (think possum/merino!) I also plan on re-branding my patterns as Little Fantail over the coming months.
In the meantime, browse the yarns I have for sale on my Etsy page and make sure you stop by my brand new FaceBook page, like it and share with anyone over this side of the world you think might be interested - every milestone in people that like me is a good excuse for a giveaway!
So I've been spending a bit of money on yarn lately (my PayPal balance is rather empty).
But it's all gorgeous and mostly from new NZ dyers that I haven't tried.
First up:
This yarn I actually purchased a while ago (when I was buying yarn for the MYB swap) but I never posted about it on here. Then, Rachel, the dyer, moved house and put the business on hold until things were all settled down. She's just started up again with her first yarn stocking last Sunday and theres lots of great extras going up for sale in the shop lately, including WIP bags, stitch markers and cute handmade buttons.
I'm still deciding what I'm going to use it for, possibly something for the baby, though it is quite a boyish colour and we don't know what bubs is!
This gorgeous yarn I actually 'won'! Every so often, Emma, the dyer, runs a different kind of yarn stocking method via her FaceBook page called a Ballot Sale. This is where for a certain period of time everyone that's interested in purchasing can comment 'sold' on the yarn photo and then, using Random.org, Emma draws the 'winner' of each colourway/yarn. Normally it's a matter of first in, first served (and I never manage to be online at the right time!) so it was nice to be able to browse the yarn and not feel so pressured to make a split-second decision on the colourway I wanted the most. And I figured, that because I won the only yarn I asked for, that it was meant to be!
This I was thinking would be either for the baby or MiddleMiss (this sort of blue suits her really well). I figure a soft blue like this is fine for a baby girl (if that's what bubs is) when mixed with pink in the outfit (BigMiss wore blue and pink together as a baby).
This yarn I had to have because of it's name. And because it hadn't sold immediately (I thought about it for a full day saying 'if it's still there tomorrow I'll get it!'), I decided it was another meant-to-be! Jo, the dyer, dyed up a collection of yarns to match her 'Memories of being a Kiwi Kid' moodboard and Snifters certainly hold memories for me too!
This I plan to use for bubs as there just isn't enough of it for anything decent for my girls and it really is a perfect neutral baby colour (not to mention I have several different chocolate browns in stash to choose from that will go nicely as trim yarn).
Knitsch Yarns 100% Merino Sock in colourways (clockwise from top): Odelay; Looking Glass; Pencarrow; Georgina and the Jellyfish
Last Saturday, J wasn't home and I'd just noticed the night before that
Craft 2.0 was happening in Wellington. So, as the house was tidy already and there was nothing else much pressing to do, I told the girls to get in the car and we would go for a ride. An hour and a half later we were in central Wellington on a freezing cold windy day (when isn't it in Wellington?) looking around for Chaffers Marina. We did manange to find it rather easily and the girls had fun looking around at all the stalls and deciding what to buy (they'd raided their piggy banks and had $20 each to spend). A little while later we all came out with a parcel or two.
My purchases were all made at Knitsch Yarns' stall where I (foolishly, maybe? I think you buy more yarn in person than online!) let the girls each pick a yarn for me to make them something out of. BigMiss chose the Odelay for a hat, MiddleMiss chose the Georgina & the Jellyfish for some gloves/mitts (to match
her cowl - the colour is similar, though it doesn't really look it from the photo), LittleMiss chose a teal-coloured DK called 'Peacock' for a cowl (my new pattern) and the Looking Glass & Pencarrow (as matching trim) are to be made into something for the baby.
The girls' purchases were pretty good too - they each came home with some type of hair accessory, a super yummy
Gourmet Caramel Apple (you have no idea how delicious these are!) and a packet of fizzing sherbert. And because I didn't feel like coming home so soon after driving all the way over, we went to
Te Papa (NZ's national museum) for lunch and a look around (I love that it has free entry!) and were back in time to make dinner!
I also received two different yarn club installments in the last couple of weeks which I might do a post about another time as there are still some international parcels to arrive.
I was uploading the camera to the computer and was reminded again of some of the fun stuff we got up to over Summer...
BigMiss went to her first real trail ride and had great fun on the kid's track.
LittleMiss even got a ride with Uncle P
We went to the Castlepoint Beach Races.
Yep, that's horse racing on the beach!
MiddleMiss' logfire
The kid's treasure hunt - dig for $1 & $2 coins in the (very wet) sand
Plus the great holiday around the Coromandel and Northland.
And now summer is really, truly over.
I still have to work even in the school holidays, but that means the girls get to go to Nana's!
Yesterday I picked them up looking like this:
Their fantastic Aunty T had done their hair in fancy curls and butterfly clips.
And even Nana had a turn with LittleMiss getting a head full of little plaits!
I'm very lucky that my MIL can look after the girls for me when I still have to work in the holidays.
A couple of finished tops needed photos taken. Normally I just find a good spot in the backyard, but this time I thought it might be more fun to take them at the park.
And of course that meant they got to play also!
It didn't take long before they'd had enough of the sensible photos.
(I needed some better photos of my Amphitrite vest on LittleMiss, but BigMiss didn't bring a jersey so she got cold and put it on)
The other day, my girls asked me about putting my knitting 'on the internet' so I showed them my Ravelry project page.
They then proceeded to ask, "Can I put mine on the internet too?"
"Sure, when you have a bit more to show." I replied.
So the knitting and crocheting continued with more gusto!
And here's what they've been working on:
LittleMiss is doing an excellent job with her knitting, so much so that I think it's time I taught her how to purl!
MiddleMiss didn't want to do her knitting anymore (I think because LittleMiss picked up on it quicker and better than she had!) so I showed her how to crochet instead. Just a basic granny-square type stitch, but she's taken to it excellently.
BigMiss did a bit of knitting a while ago, but acrylic yarn on plastic needles was not much fun! So she picked up her French Knitting and has been having fun trying to make stripes with that. I did try to teach her crochet but that just ended in tears, so I think we'll go back to knitting - this time with real wool and metal needles!
What crafty-ness do your kids get up to?
A bit late, but joining in with the crafty fun over
here.
BigMiss and LittleMiss jumping the snow off the tramp (they took their gumboots off and got very wet socks!)
This time we got the real stuff. And it lasted for more than a day!
So what does BigMiss do?
Gets out the motorbike and goes for a skid round the back yard.
MiddleMiss built a snowman.
It got rather warm when the sun came out inbetween it snowing.
Then we all went for lunch to the SIL's where out came the tractor.
Even I had a go (we just won't say what happened to the clam shell).
New Zealand in winter is not a very 'white' place, especially in the lower North Island where we live. But today we woke up to a light dusting of the white stuff and the girls thought it was great!
They managed to get very wet making a little snow pile (not a man, just a pile). Fortunately, I made them hang up their jackets and gear in front of the fire to dry as soon as they came in, because the lots-more-adventurous-than-me Aunty T phoned at mid-morning wanting to go to the snow and take the girls for company!
(If you want to get to decent, make-a-snowman snow around here, you just drive to the foot of the Tararua Ranges at Holdsworth which is only about 15-20mins from our house.)
Being school holidays and all, everyone seemed to be out there, including Aunty N and the cousins, so the girls had a great time.
I quite enjoyed staying dry and warm at home (and it was nice and quiet too).
Yesterday was Mother's Day.
When I was pregnant-almost-due with BigMiss I joked with J that I should get to have my first Mother's Day as I was technically a mother already. He laughed and it never happened.
So neither did Father's Day.
Since then, it hasn't really been a big deal in our house. No breakfast in bed, flowers, cards, special attention or anything.
But now the girls are older they've taken their own initiative (though I think it was helped by the junior class doing art with a Mother's Day focus).
It started with both me and J being given an 'invitation' each (basically as soon as we were awake!)
They were planning on doing it after lunch (we usually go to Nana & Pop's house) as they thought we wouldn't have time before Church, but we said if they got dressed and organised quick enough then we would have time.
When we were all dressed and ready, I was told I had to find my presents in a Treasure Hunt and they would tell me if I was 'hot' or 'cold'.
Here's what I found:
Two wordfinds from BigMiss
(She said they were tricky ones because there were some words that weren't in the wordfind!)
A vase of flowers from BigMiss
(She had made the picture at school on Friday and put the base on it to turn it into a vase on Saturday. MiddleMiss helped with the flower making as they were modelled on some she'd made last year in the junior class at school.)
A 'pattern' from MiddleMiss
(Can you see the picture of the skirt and top? She drew them - and labeled the colours - so that I knew what she wanted me to make for her!)
A letter from LittleMiss
(This was done at school. The picture is of me and her with a flower.)
A flower in a vase from LittleMiss
(This was also made at school.)
Then we all had to sit in a circle in the lounge and play Pass-the-Parcel together. LittleMiss provided the music (Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star sung very cutely) and directed the proceedings. Every layer unwrapped had something, even if it was just a blank piece of paper, and I had to get the last parcel - a special note from LittleMiss 'To Mama' with her signature flower drawn on it.
The morning ended with the girls all giving me a special 'I Love You' hug.
Commercial gifts and cards can't compete with that!
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