Scatterbrained

Jump higher so I can get a cool in the sky shot!

Yesterday I made a little outfit for Ruby out of a pair of my old Thai fisherman's pants which I bought when I was pregnant with Dustin but only wore a couple of times because they never stayed right. They had big wide legs and were made out of a light cotton. I thought of Ruby because she likes pink and I whipped up this very simple skirt and top set and we headed out to the trampoline for a photo shoot.

I love rick rack. I have it in many colours :)

This little outfit probably wont fit her next year but at least it will a cool fun little thing to put on after a bath on a hot afternoon or for an evening walk on the beach this summer.

Dustin wanted his own photo shoot even though he didn't get any new clothes yesterday.

Crocheting bowls

I have made a few of these in the last week or so. Also hats. I made two hats yesterday. Almost. One needs a little redoing as it isn't quite right. The other one needs more yarn I think. Not sure if it is quite big enough.

The bowls are fun little things that I can make really quickly and they do come in handy.

I was going to felt this one but I thought it would turn out too small so I left it as it is. It sits on Scott's bedside table for his Ipod shuffle. I crocheted two different yarns together for this one.

This one I did felt. It is in my bedside table draw holding lip balm, hair ties and my engagement ring. Very handy!

This one is my favourite because it is 100% made with wool from my sheep which I washed, carded, dyed and spun myself :) It is also in my bedside drawer and is especially for holding pencil erasers which is one of those things I always loose. Along with eyebrow tweezers! I can NEVER find those!

I have my own studio for all of this stuff but it is still all over the house so this one has come in handy for the 'stuff that never makes it back to the studio'.

I used this yarn which is also spun from my sheep's wool except the locks which I've had for ages.

I'm not sure what projects are on the list for today. I'll just have to wait and see but I think I might have to get the sewing machine out :)

Now some more Flinders Island. This is the morning I got up really early, before everyone else was awake and took photos of the sunrise.

On our last night we stayed in one of the islands two hotels so we could freshen up before the long boat trip home. It was great to have clean kids and warm showers.

Hay season is over for another year

All of our hay has been cut, baled and put in the shed. We have enough hay for two year at our current amount of stock. We are not selling any of this years hay because we want to make sure we have enough for our animals until we finish putting in crops.

The potatoes in the other paddocks are growing nicely. They are at new potato stage so we can start digging some up. We officially don't need to buy potatoes anymore.

Now we need some rain to freshen things up.

This last photo was taken by Ruby from the window of the truck. This is my favourite hay photo.

Creativeness

Look what I made yesterday!

Yes... I know a cow REALLY made him, but I participated. I called the dairy farmer across the road and had him come and pick up my cows and put them in a truck and take them over to the paddock his bull lives in where they had a nice holiday for a couple of months and lost their virginities.

That cow in the pictures with the little calf is not his mother. That is his Aunty Clover. Her calf is due any day now. In the next picture you can tell which one is his mother. Check out those udders!

I have been very creative lately. Karma and I crocheted a bag while we listened to Stephen King audio books in my chair in my bedroom.

I have felted this already and it is OK but the handle is a little bit wonky. I made it for my market stall but I don't think it is good enough to sell. I'll take a photo today. It is the right size for my wallet and keys, phone and a paper back novel though :)

I bought a bunch of natural wool and silk roving from the US which arrived this week and I plan on spinning some today. I have decided to start making scarves for my market stall. They might sell well on our cold Tasmanian weekends during winter.

I also plan on finishing off my third vampire today.

OH, I almost forgot. I did some work on 'The Secret project' for the other new baby which is due soon.

More Flinders Island

 

Vampires and vegies

We had a little vegie harvest.

Big yellow zucchinis, two different kinds of squash, beans and two different kinds of tomatoes. They are all delicious.

I have to find some good zucchini recipes because these yellow ones are growing fast!

This lovely wool came in the mail at the end of last year from an online friend and I pulled it and spun it on Saturday night.

Here it is drying after I washed it. I'm not very good at spinning but fortunately I love the over spun bits as much as I love the underspun bits :)

I have already crocheted it into a little purse. I haven't taken a photo yet but I'll do that today.

I spun this one from wool from my own sheep. Some is dyed red but most of it is natural. The yellow and orange wispy bits are locks from those curly wooled sheep. They are not mine but I think I need some :) I have already crocheted this into a little 'pot'. Photos to come.

So here is the Vampire Isabell (with no E on the end). She didn't take as long as Petunia because there wasn't quite as much stitching but I like her. I still haven't quite gotten her fangs sharp enough. I like how the ink comes out on the cotton fabric. I need to get some more of this.

I am starting another vampire today.

I also have a new kitchen bench :) This is what the old one looked like.

Pretty ugly hey! I got our builder to use plywood for the new bench because I wanted something cheap. Eventually this kitchen will be pulled out and will become a walkway to our extension when we get around to doing that, sometime in the future.

Here the new bench is in its raw state. Looks nice.

And then I rubbed it down with linseed oil.

Bummer!

Scott left yesterday to go to Melbourne to do a job for Southern Cross Shipping, the company who owns the boat which took us to Flinders Island. When he got there this morning he discovered that the company went into liquidation and was advised not to do any work. Fortunately, due to the fact that the people who own the Southern Shipping Company have been in some financial distress, Scott requested payment for the trip in advance.

So Scott's work trip has turned into a leisure trip and it now looks like he will be taking his cousin and her friend who are visiting from Norway on the trip along the Great Ocean Road which they really wanted to do before they left Australia. We probably wont get paid for his time but at least Scott gets a mini break in Melbourne and at least he will have time to go to Ikea for me (he has a shopping list).

All the herbs in my herb garden need pruning. They have all gone to flower and are getting too big. Today I am going to chop the rest of them off and put them in vases around the house. I've already put a bunch in the bathroom.

Vampire Petunia

I finished her yesterday while I was listening to a Stephen King audio book. I think she turned out nice. I am going to frame her in a painted black hoop.

I really enjoyed this project. So much so I have already done a design for another vampire.

More Flinders Island holiday shots

I realised the scarf I made the night before looked just like the seaweed on the beach.

Shhhhhhhhhhh, don't wake him.

They just lay their eggs in the middle of the beach. You can see how close we came to stepping on them. We put up a stick to show us where they were.

The second egg hatched the next day and there were two!

There were a couple more just a few metres away. So cute.

Flinders Island Day 6

The not so great weather of the day before cleared and we were back to blue skies and sunshine.

I made scones. I don't have a picture of the finished product. They must have been good because they didn't last very long.

And did some laundry.

There were horses on the beach!

 

A year of creativeness

So I have been doing something everyday like I promised and it has been easy to find something quick to do. There was one day I was feeling unmotivated and didn't do anything but I made up for it by working on two projects the next day.

This is a little vampire lady I am stitching up. I was inspired by Charlaine Harris's Sookie books. I used white ink for her face and a little water colour for her make-up and lots of stitching. I'm really enjoying this and expect you will see a few more vampires coming from me in the future. It is my original design. She needs ears!

I have finished the vintage duck but I didn't do a very good job on it. I have a habit of using too much thread on projects which are too small.

I finished Dustin's scarf too. Ruby asked what I was making and I told her but said "Don't tell Dustin. It's a secret". Dustin came back forty-five seconds later to see his new scarf :)