It's not just an Art Smock....

DD changed schools at the beginning of the year and this meant a lot of new uniforms, which normally just requires sewing on name labels, however we had to buy an art smock (not just any smock but one from the uniform cupboard from school of course).

Unfortunately the art smock she wanted, the beautiful flowery one, only came in a HUGE size and Little Miss is not huge, by a long way. So we ended up with a purple one, because we had to have one (she wasn't missing out on art class but not having a pretty smock was really pushing the boundaries) and I promised to jazz it up a bit.

I had grand plans of appliqueing on flowers, but in the end (and with one day to go until school started) I went with a strip motif. Some of the fabrics have significance to her, they're all off cuts from things I've made, but not all for her.
She was happy with the outcome, and of course, the response she got from the class and teacher.
Thankfully I think this 'size small' will last quite a few years.

The Bos visits

The travelling tea box arrived this morning, just before we had to leave for swimming lessons.
(School holidays this week so we had Miss Seven along for swimming today.)

Master Three was terribly grumpy this morning. He didn't want to go to swimming - he first mentioned this at 6am and then every five minutes after that until we were in the car heading off. It took a bit of bribery I must admit.
Then I gave him Rooibos - the tea box's travelling security system and all of a sudden he came out of his bad mood.


Here is Rooi guarding Miss (just turned) 7, who is busy playing on the ipod while waiting for the lesson to start.
Rooi was glad it wasn't him swimming.
This was his preferred position.
But he did watch, and Master 3 did really really well today, with Rooi and his big sister watching (ok it was mainly his big sister, he wanted to impress her) but he managed to swim under water by himself for the first time today.
Rooi discovered that Miss 7 is quite a live wire and a bit of a party animal. He knew he'd have to keep an eye on her.
Told you...
Master 3 has a set routine after swimming - a vanilla milkshake + hot cinnamon donut, then a look in all of the two dollar stores in the shopping centre and to top it off going through all the toys in the smallish Target.

So here we are having morning tea.
Rooi with his hand in the donut bag.

The kids love Rooi....
.......Master 3 decided he had a cranky face and must need lots of cuddles. He carried him everywhere in the shops and cuddled him at every opportunity.

Making sure Rooi got some donut.
It's Easter Egg time of the year and up to now Miss 7 hasn't had a chance to look at the eggs in the shops so her eyes popped out today.
She is pretty disappointed that most easter eggs are brown chocolate as she doesn't eat it.
And then onto Target where Master 3 showed The Bos the Toy Story Toys and explained to him that the store had run out of the big Buz Lightyear he wants for his birthday.
He doesn't seem to be phased to be round so many famous toys.
Master 3 explaining that this Buzz isn't quite so good because he says his laser will get you but his laser doesn't actually work.
And then onto the Thomas the Tank Engine section.
Master 3 found some carriages he didn't have and he and Rooi raced off to the scanner to check the price, then they both tried to talk me into buying it, as it was on special. It did get left behind though.
Master 3 explaining it all to the Bos.
Miss 7's turn.
She found some dancing chickens.
Sorry Rooi.
She then gave him a ride on a giant dog toy.
And got him up close and personal with one of the dolls. A bit young for him, but he was humouring Miss 7.
And finally Master 3 called out that he had to show Rooi Chuggington as well.
Rooi was totally exhausted after all this and begged to be put into the bag while we did the groceries. The kids were waaay too much party for him and he slept through the afternoon getting ready for a big day tomorrow.

My version of a Chevron Lace cardigan

In my quest to make 11 wearable garments (with at least 60% of them for me) in 2011 I decided to embark on the chevron cardigan.

I wasn't too keen on the neck opening with the big gap across the stomach (the bit of me I normally like to hide) so I decided I'd make some modifications.

My first attempt involved making a smaller neckline but increasing down the front part.


I ended up undoing this attempt as I didn't like the shape on me and the armholes were too low.

Even though I added to the middle of the cardigan it still didn't sit right or join across the middle so I undid it (yep, even though I had pretty much finished it).
I didn't mind the back shaping though.


On my next attempt I used the correct neck instructions but kept extending in the pattern to end up with a v-neck shape.
I used a smaller hook to shape it in the middle and I also made the armpits higher and finished it higher on me.
I am happy with the results.





(Thanks to my three year old for the above photos)





I have some buttons - just have to put them on. It hasn't stopped me from wearing it though!



Details of project on my Ravelry page.

Same same but different

Kata in different colours.

I had to add another round of pink to get it up to 12".
Sent to a friend to cheer her up.

Washer Swap

I've been organising some cheaper swaps for 2011.
The first one was a cloth and soap swap.

This lovely red cloth and summery coloured tawashi were what I received! (I almost like the red one too much to use.)

I made this one for my partner but wasn't sure about it so didn't send it. It's made out of washed haze and is nice and thick.
I also made this one and was happy with this one so sent it with some Beechworth Honey soap.

Birthday in return

The package of goodies for my birthday!
The cloths and scrubbies have gone into rotation and I think I'll make a beret with the yarn.

Bag for a Birthday

This year the birthday swap was run a little differently.
One partner whose birthday is close to yours. This should help with the loss of enthusiasm that seems to happen once people have had their birthdays but have to keep supplying presents.

My partner has a baby and wanted a bag that she could use as a project bag/cart daughters stuff around in bag.

Last Christmas Mum gave me a pattern for this multi tasking tote bag. I decided it would probably work well for my partner.

What I didn't realise is that it eats material and is constructed in a slightly obscure way.

I didn't really enjoy making this bag. Not sure I'd make another, maybe I'd use the principle to make something like it.
My partner loves purple and wanted bright vibrant jewel tones.
This was as close as I could get!
I did dye a skein of silk as well but it had a lot of light purple in it and my partner isn't fussed on light purple.
As I already had swap anxiety with the bag I got her a skein of Malabrigo worsted.

That's birthday swapping done for the year.