BUG DAY

Our JK has been doing a little stint of kindy in his life.

He is attending our local Montessori School House and loves it. 

Completely suits his way of learning and socialising.

On Wednesday it was Bug Day. JK announced a week earlier that he would like to go as a Cicada. Mummy subtly moved him away from that idea (thinking to myself "how the HANG am I gonna make a Cicada costume!!!") and he went on to the idea of a grasshopper (me groaning to myself) but eventually he settled on a butterfly. He's been quite fascinated how the whole caterpillar to butterfly process works..." Mum, the caterpillar eats and eats and eats until it can't eat anymore, then it becomes a racoon"......priceless.

I got out the fabric scraps, the sewing machine and other paraphenalia ....WHALAA! 

A Butterfly emerged!

Busy Nesting

Ahhhh! The nesting bug has gotten me!
I have

• knitted
• cleaned and tidied random stuff
• reorganised
• sorted
• oh yes and knitted
• sewn stuff

and I still haven't done 1/2 my list but we're making progress and that's the main thing.

It's 4 more weeks till my scan date (technically my due date was the week just gone.....after all this is Laura we are talking about and the last 2 just turned up when they were good and ready, yes 2 and 3 weeks later).
I'm feeling good! Not too incapacitated by the large basketball protruding out the front and enjoying this little person moving around inside my belly.
The boys are showing lots of interest in bubba and JK has taken to commenting at least once a day "I wonder if it's a boy or a girl?". LJ's fav comfort thing is to lift up my shirt and put his head on my puku (tummy), talk to the 'bubby' and rub my stomach like it's magic. All very cute! Oh yes and speaking of cute, my darling hubby has been bonding with his next child too.

So here are some of the projects that I have completed and attached photos of

1. Emma's Apron! This is an 'Emmeline Apron' from a pattern by Sew Liberated (formally Montessori By Hand). This special apron has been sent of to my darling sister who is on the Mission field in Ethiopia. Oh and it's reversible! She chose the material herself before she left so this is totally her style.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
2. Sarah's Mei Tai. This was great fun to make as it is so simple and quick esp once you have all the pieces cut out.
   
   
   
   
   
   
3. Knitted Baby Soakers and Longie. One girlie coloured one, just in case we have a little girl!
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
4. Calorimetry. My first attempt at one of these in this cool wool. It was easy to knit and a great instant gratification project. I think I didn't check the gauge carefully enough (i'm just lazy) so it's a little wider than it should be.....thinking I might give it a bit of a hotish wash to size it down a bit.
   
   
   
   
   
5. One toddler sized longie for LJ. This was the first one I have ever knitted. Am so proud of the new skills I learnt along the way. Knitted in Tekapo Landscape.
   
   
   
   
   
6. Another 2 Dishcloths... One went all the way to Ethiopia for my Mum and the other to my sister Marcella....opps no photos of these.
   

JK's Quilt

FINALLY!!! i have managed to get JK's quilt on the line for a photo. It's only been 4 months since it was finished and gifted to him for his 4th birthday!!
He requested the colour scheme (blue and green) and found a picture of a quilt with courthouse steps as the pattern...he decided he quite liked it.
Some of the fabrics where chosen purely for their colour but many were chosen for their NZ designs. We have pukekos, kiwifruit, korus and ferns. It was loads of fun to make and JK just loves it to bits.

Winter Busyness

It's that wonderful time of year when the evenings are long and the need to be in close contact with great colours and textures is paramount. It has been rather chilly over the last month and very wet so lots of time to be indoors working on projects etc. I think it's not only the weather but also my pregnancy that motivates me to be home....even when I'm offered an evening out, I am happy-as-larry to be home keeping my hands busy with a new challenge.

Here are some of the things that are happening......and it's not just me but the kids too!

Jordan and Levi with hammers, nails, softboard and wooden shapes.....they LOVE it.



And then there's Mummy's projects.....

The Wheat Sacks requested by my Ken and Dad, they have been divided into 3 compartments to stop the wheat travelling from one end to the other and just a little bit of lavender to keep it smelling yummy.










I knitted a baby beanie from leftover wool to add to a small pile of baby gifts that I'm trying to gather for my own and all those up and coming. It was a quick satisfying project (anybody get the feeling that I need quite a bit of instant gratification!!).



The following knitted item is not my work...you can tell cause it's not very simple looking!!.....my Oma in Holland knitted it for our new bubba.



For my twin sister's birthdays I made them each a messenger bag to take with them on their year long family adventure to serve on the mission field in Ethiopia. They have magnetic closures and the fabrics were esp chosen for each twin. Just in case you don't guess.....one of them is a bit horse crazy. Here are photos of the bags I made.

Bag #1 was made from denim and cute cherry print cotton with an appliqued flower on the outside for a bit of fun.





Bag #2 (sorry no close up photo yet....am doing some adjusting to the strap length....what a mare!!!.....hehe no pun intended) Made from vintage bark cloth picked up at the local sallies and lime green lining. This one even has a pocket on the inside.



And then of course you need to have something sitting to the side to do when ya finish the projects currently on the go (pjs for JK, nappies, flannels, baby cardy, baby hats etc etc) so I purchased 2 patterns from Sew Liberated (formly Montesori By Hand). The apron will be part of my little sister's 21st pressie and the Mei Tai carrier for a friend who is having her first bubba any day now.

Making Dishes Interesting

I tried my hand at knitting a dishcloth!
What a great little project to do when you need a change of scene from a more ongoing WIP.
So heres my hot-chocolate-with-marshmellows dishcloth....

AND....here's the pattern for those who aspire to more unique and interesting
dishcloths in their kitchen.

co4, k 1 row
Next row, k2 inc in next st, k1
Next row, k2,yo,k to end of row
Repeat the k2, yo, k until you have 45sts on the needle
Next row, k1, k2Tog, yo, k2Tog, k to end of row
Continue to do this , decreasing each row until 5 stitches are left. Then, k2, k2Tog, k1.
Bind off the 4 sts.

Nappy Sewing

I have caught the nappy sewing bug.
I think I might blame Sharon after viewing her creations and finding a great pattern to use.
I've fought a little with the old sewing machine, wished for an overlocker and started to sharpen up on the self taught, limited sewing skills and I think I'm offically addicted........esp judging by the LARGE stack of material sitting to the left of my dining room table.
Here are a few of creations thus far......

It started with a fitted nappy and cover for our LJ. The nappy is made from Flannelette and hemp, cover is made from PUL. He did a great job at modeling for me! Need to go up a size in the nappy for him or make the wings longer.






Then I had a baby shower to attend so I made a newborn fitted from cotton velour and hemp, a PUL cover and 4 little cloth wipes. Lots of fun!!

An open view of the fitted nappy, it has an extra soaker inside that can be removed so that it all dries quickly!!! Very important with the dank, cold weather we've been having. Bring on summer I say!







I hope to make a set of velour fitted nappies for our up and coming little one along with some PUL covers and some knitted soakers. With the JK I used disposables completely and with LJ I didn't start using cloth till he was about 2 months old....my aim is to get into those cloths as soon as those icky meconium poos are over with.
Check back for more photos later!

Quilt Madness is Upon Us!

It's time again....
Time for what??? you may very well ask....
Time to dominate the dining room table with fabric, sewing machine, cutting mat etc and the floor with fabric, thread, left-over fabric......and probably more.


My husband Jumps with Joy or is it....Grimaces when I start cutting a quilt.....he knows it'll be a while before he gets the dining room and lounge looking tidy and orderly again.
It's JK's 4th Birthday at the beginning of May and he requested a 'cool blanket like LJ's' as his present and he would like it in blue and green and he likes the courthouse step pattern.
Huh!! opinionated.....NOT AT ALL!!
So I've done the mad dash to Spotlight and the Fabric Barn for material (no trouble with the blues, but the greens seemed to be mainly in muted colours.....weird....a bit limited!). I've cut 11/2 inch strips and 2 inch squares (actually I cut 21/2 squares cause I didn't re-read the instructions...but we'll downsize as we go).
Last night I put together my first 2 courthouse blocks and this was the result...................................

Bag-erific!!

One day the itch to make a bag came upon me.
So in true "Laura-Motivation" style, it was done on that very day!!
I used the Tutorial from Tiny Happy and was very happy with the results.
Fun and reasonably fast to make to...all things I love!




















I gifted that one to my sister Emma who loves a bit of vintage in her life.

The great thing about it was the denim on the outside of the bag was given to me by Emma and the flower fabric on the inside was a good find at the local Salvation Army Thrift shop. In fact I got a few goodies that day including vintage bark cloth with a Horse-themed print all over it....I know a little sister who would just LOVE to have a tote bag made from that!!!

Good Kai and Mahi

Having quite a few cultures represented in our family unit, I have always wanted to learn the cultures (ie. cooking, craft, language) of each one. Being bought up in a Dutch family I can speak conversational Dutch and know enough about the culture to navigate it. I can cook Dutch meals and sing Dutch songs to my kids. That's one down.
My husband represents the Maori and Samoan cultures. To get a better grip on the Tikanga (protocols and traditions) of Maoridom and to fulfill a desire to learn the Maori arts, I enrolled in a Raranga (weaving) course at night school.
I have done 4 weeks of the course and am just loving it. Our tutor, Tia, has such a beautiful heart and is so encouraging and knowledgeable. So far we have learnt to harvest our own Harekeke (flax) and prepare it. We have made a bouquet of flowers all woven from one piece of work.............


Rourous (food baskets) and a wall hanging (sorry no photos yet!).............

And.....a plasticbag holder..........



This week we are going to start our Kete Pikau (backpack bag) so it is all very exciting. I love the challenge, the character development (great way to practice perseverance and patience!) and the company of the 5 ladies.

In addition to my weaving I also attempted a traditional Maori meal of Boil-up.
It consists of stewing meat, potatoes, kumara, pumpkin, cabbage and dough-boys.
I felt very proud when my husband's verdict was, 'just like mum's boil-up'. Yay!!
I found a great website with Maori recipes
These recipes have cooking times and quantities which is FAB as most recipes are passed down through the family so everybody has their own variations. Have a go!!

www.Estacreationz.com

I promise I will do a proper post today!
But in the meantime.....
Our Website, Esta Creationz, is up and running, so check it out and keep an eye out for new products. At the moment there will be cards and jewelery, but i'm hoping to branch out into lots of other cool handmade items (mind you.... I do need to discuss that with my partner-in-crime...my lovely sister Emz)
Please bear with us as the whole thing is still under construction so there's no logo or cool colours and backgrounds etc etc etc.
My Dad tutors a group of students in computing and has put the challenge out to them to come up with a logo in exchange for morning tea.....pretty good deal me thinks.

Ok.... it's not officially my 'computer' time of the day so I better busy myself with some housework.....oh and I also should think about my son's 3rd birthday and................................................ah! you know how it is.