A Spot of Gifting

I love to give handmade gifts but tend to be a little slow on the actual gifting side.

Take my sister's socks for example.  They were intended as a Christmas present but never got finished until June!

Or my Mum's socks.  These were intended for a birthday present - her birthday is in October and I finished them in May!

Or, more recently, the NB size top I made my latest nephew.  I never got around to sending it in the post before we saw them over New Year's (he was born in October) and forgot to bring it with us as I'd intended.  Though, when I saw him I could tell I was already too late and he was no longer NB size!

Now, socks for adults don't matter if they're gifted a little late - they should still fit - but clothing for babies have deadlines.  As in, you have to gift them before they out-grow them!

So, what do you do when you're too late to gift baby clothes?


Make it again in a bigger size!

It actually worked out more sensible as my nephew would've been fitting the warm woollen top I made in Spring/Summer but this one should last him through Winter.

I used the exact same pattern (Puerperium, but used the full version - Beyond Puerperium) and exact same yarn (Vintage Purls Sock in Chaff with random choc-brown from stash), but made it the 6-12mth size and used a giraffe pattern for the border instead of the elephants.


(And in case you're wondering what happened to the original NB size - I gifted it to a friend's new baby boy and it's getting good use!)


The next gift I made I was a little more organized.

I wanted to make something quick for my sister's birthday but had no idea what.  Then, when shopping with Mum, I saw the perfect tea-for-one cup - complete with a tea leaf strainer and lid - and thought it was exactly her.

But, as tradition is starting to dictate, I needed a yarny gift to go with it.


So I whipped up a quick cup cosy.  And to make it extra special, I used the last of the wool (Vintage Purls Sock in Noel) that I knit her socks in.


Actually, it wasn't that quick as I changed my mind on the pattern twice before I decided to crochet this one.  But I was very happy with it and so was my sister!

And the best thing about it?  I managed to have it arrive ON her birthday!

What sort of crafty gifting do you like to do?  And, unlike me, do you actually manage to gift it on time?

Joining in over here with My Creative Space - it's been a while for me!




Click on the pictures to go to my Ravelry project page if you're interested!
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Another Summer Knit

I was planning a post on the gift knitting I've been doing lately but the photos are still on the camera which I don't have with me right now, so I thought instead I would show the cute summer top I made for MiddleMiss (way back in December!)


You may remember I blogged about it's start way back here.


The pattern is Hine by Kelly Brooker (one of my favourite fellow Kiwi designers) and is written for DK, Worsted and Aran weight yarn.  Of course I wanted to do it in fingering which meant tweaking the pattern to suit!  (Why can't I just follow a pattern!?)


It's the details that make this top so nice.  A neat button band that required cute buttons (I purposefully chose different ones as I think it adds character) and a simple lace pattern on the short sleeves.


And, yes, MiddleMiss approved!  She often chooses to wear it still and because it's wool (Vintage Purls sock yarn) I know it'll keep her warm even if the weather isn't.

PS. For more knitterly details and info on the mods I made to suit fingering yarn check out my project page.
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Oh, the Excitment!

It's finally released and I can show you my latest design!

Wasabi


I had the privilege of being included in the latest (Spring 2012) issue of Petite Purls - my first ever published design!


For it, I designed a lacy top-down, raglan style cardigan.  I wanted to keep it modern with a low v-neck, large rib bands and a shorter, cropped length in the body.


In my usual style, the construction starts in an unusual manner. The lace yoke/border is started with a provisional cast on and worked in both directions across the back neck. Short rows are used to provide shaping. Stitches are then picked up along the border edge and the body is worked down from there.

It’s not really as complicated as it sounds!

It's sized for 2-10 years, is worked in fingering weight yarn and you can find the pattern for FREE right here on Petite Purls!

Don't forget to check out my other designs!

And for those that are on Ravelry, here's the pattern page.  Please link your projects as I'd love to see them!
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ANZAC Day


Today we get to stop and remember all those brave souls that have fought for the freedom of our nation over the years, a day we call ANZAC Day (ANZAC stands for Australia & New Zealand Army Corps).

So yesterday I got the girls to make ANZAC biscuits.  They're a very classic Kiwi biscuit (cookie for those Americans/Canadians).  If you've never made them before, I recommend giving it a go!  It's one of my favourite biscuits (but only the homemade variety - I find bought ones too crunchy for my liking!)

ANZAC Biscuits

Picture borrowed from Google - the girls' ones didn't last for a photo!

Ingredients
1/2 cup flour
1/3 cup white sugar
2/3 cup desiccated coconut
3/4 cup rolled oats
50g butter
1 Tbls golden syrup
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 Tbls boiling water

1. Mix together the flour, sugar, coconut and oats.
2. Melt the butter and golden syrup.
3. Dissolve the baking soda in the boiling water and add to butter and golden syrup.
4. Stir butter mixture into the dry ingredients.
5. Place level tablespoons of mixture onto greased baking tray (or shape into balls and flatten with your palm).
6. Bake at 180 C for about 15mins or until golden.
Makes 20 (if you make them tiny - ours were a decent size and we got about 12!)

There are lots of variations on this recipe with nuts, raisins or chocolate chips added, but I just like it standard!
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Kids in the Kitchen

BigMiss has been doing a lot of baking and cooking for me lately.  So much so that I can't remember the last time it was actually me doing the baking! 

She has a really good kid's recipe book that has clear step by step illustrated instructions and just does it all herself.  (The other day she told me she was going to do some baking and I wasn't allowed to know what she was making or come in the kitchen - and I totally trusted her!)


So when I heard about a school holiday cooking program where the kids have to make dinner each night for a week I thought it would be just the thing for her.  It's an online program that runs nationally and includes daily challenges with chances to win prizes.

The first day was yesterday and one challenge was to do a Random Act of Kindness involving food.  BigMiss decided to make a batch of brownies for our neighbor (a nice single lady that works long hours).  She took it over in the evening when we saw she'd come home from work.


And for dinner she made Chicken Couscous Pile Up which tasted absolutely delicious!  It was couscous (we dressed it up with apricots, pumpkin seeds and red onion as the recipe just had it plain) with fancy lettuce on top, a crumbed chicken schnitzel on that and topped with chopped tomatoes and plum sauce.


Tonight it's going to be Beef (actually venison as that's all we have in the freezer) Fried Rice and the daily challenge is to do a themed over-the-top table setting.  It will be interesting to see what BigMiss comes up with as she's spending the day at a friend's house today and will need to plan it all there!
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Do Boys Ever Grow Up?

Last month J and I had a kid-free weekend in Rotorua with some friends.  And as two of them were Canadian and had never been there, a visit to the Luge was in order...






And, no, this is not the sort of thing you're supposed to do on the luge, but boys will be boys (or so I'm told!)

There was supposed to be a ride on that we were going to but it was cancelled the day before we left.  As everything had been organised and accomodation paid for, we just went anyway, but the guys still needed their adrenaline fix!  (They also did Planet Bike which is a fantastic mountain biking outfit.)
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A Little Summer Fun

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.
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