Broken promises (a sneak peek)

okay, i did promise myself i would NOT start anything to do with my Dr Seuss material until I had other things done. Well, of course that promise was not kept, and this morning I have been playing away with it. It is not quite half done, but all the pieces are cut out and waiting so it wont take too long to finish, although not today: i actually have housework to do   ;-( .  It was lucky that I did start playing with this or else the washing I put in the machine this morning would have already been hung out on the line, and it is raining.  So it is a good thing!!LOL!!

The corners aren't all exactly straight which is annoying me, as each join has been pinned, but I think I have finally nailed the method of pinning that works the best.  The more the merrier is my new motto. So hopefully each new strip will go on just a bit better.

Other news in our house is that DH is out at this minute buying a ride on mower.  We have been here for fourteen years and a ride-on was always on the list of things to get and I am surprised it has taken this long, but then again, they are expensive items.  So now the 3/4 acre yard will be done in a twinkling and not the whole day that it currently takes.   So DH gets his new mower and I get the trailer for it; after talking to friends, it seems to be the thing that you dont need often but when you do; priceless. 

A bit of fun

I am not sure if I told you but at work we have a wonderful range of Dr Seuss fabrics.  I had to cut a fat 1/4 from each of them, leaving us with a spare fat 1/4, so what else is a girl to do - i snapped them up as quick as quick!!  Once these things go, they aren't generally reprinted, so I just had to!!  My kids are a bit bemused and can't understand why I would indulge in Dr Seuss.  they are, of course, too old for it. Or so they think!  I already know what i want to do with it and am very eager to start but it is show season and I have other fish to fry currently.

Isn't it great??  Much of it is A Cat In the Hat, but it is so bright and cheery and takes me back to when the kids were young.    i am going to cut it into 5 1/2 or 6 inch squares, sash them in red, with a little square of the print at each corner (make sense?).  I will be good and wait until some other things are done first.

And now, speaking of show season; I entered the first one of the year (well the first of the ones i usually enter) yesterday. Our local CWA opens up their spring show to non members as a fundraising exercise, one which I am happy to support. it isn't a huge show but it is fun and I have friends who enter in different catagories. So here is a little photo of how my entries went. besides these I had two smocked dresses and the christening gown, eight entries in all.  The smocking won first and second but that is nothing to brag about when you are only competing with yourself!!

And while I only enter this one just for fun, I am pleased my little beanie won a first; it was my second attempt at cable knitting. It is a wonderful pattern from an old little knitting book that I have.  The seam runs along the edge of one of the cables so when it is sewn up, it becomes invisible.
I only had one entry that won nothing, a knitted scarf. it was up against a dozen others so that is fine by me.

knitting needle roll

I recently saw a post from Jillian at Always stitching who had made a roll for her knitting needles.  While my collection is a bit eclectic and much of it is made up from various hand me downs; mostly from my grandmother, I thjought it was a great idea.  The idea sat in the back of my head until earlier in the week when I found some material at work for 50%off that I thought would be perfect. I couldn't let the idea go so hunted around for somehting for the outside and then last night, with nothing better to do, off I went.  So here it is; it isn't as gorgous as Jillians, who used the most lovely material, but it will do.

I added a flap to mine to try and hold the needles in, and put some pockets on either side for my stitch holders, needle guage, double pointed needles etc.  I am really happy with it, especially for something I was making up as I went along.  it will certainly do the job.
On the subject of knitting needles, i must point out the bamboo ones over towards the right; these are new; I bought them on Monday  (no, not much of my pay came home that day :D ). I used them on my days off during the week to make a scarf (which I promise to show you in a day or two) and they are wonderful. I really liked using them and I know why they are so popular.  My goal is to replace many of these needles over the coming weeks, with bamboo ones.  They really are lovely.

So a big thankyou to Jillian for her inspiration, and the idea.  I love that we have the internet where we can all share ideas and inspirations; I do thank all of the talented people out there in cyberworld who are generous enough to share things with everyone else.

first communion photos

Finally, some photos. Last Sunday the weather was quite perfect; not cold enough to really need a jacket and not too warm either. A perfect day for the kids to do their first comunion. The small church was packed tot he rafters; an apology to the usual parishoners who had the hordes descending for the day.
Anyway, here are a couple of photos.

So what now? I have been knitting some bootees for the shop; but shhh, it is a surprise for my boss when she gets back this weekend form her overseas holiday. But it is also the start of Show season and I have so many things i want to do before my home show in four weeks time.  Today I might be able to finish two covered coat hangers.  I have smocking ready to go and some children's garments ready, sot hat is good. Now I just want to do some bits and pieces to add tot he collection. Soon my son and I will have to wrok out which photos we want to enter; I love entering photography.  i have mixed success but there are some wonderful photos out there.

Speaking of my son, we had an information night at his school to sort out subjects for next year, and for the two years after that. I was sceptical before we went but am so glad we did go. We have a clear idea of the rest of his high school, although he can change things around if he changes his mind.  We were told if he keeps his grades up he may be eligable for a scholarship for his chosen university so that was all good news. It feels good to have a plan in front of us and now the whole VCE doesn't seem like such a foreign idea (it was the HSC when I did it).

Work is good, was busy yesterday so that is good; when it is slow the day tends to drag, and your feet hurt more.  I am back to three days a week now, instead of the four that I have been doing while my boss was away.
So for now, life goes on as usual.