July Finishes

This morning, while the kids played Pirates, I stitched up all my finished but not seamed knitting!  "Listening" to Pirate Play is preferrable to watching it as I always feel compelled to say "Please don't swing from the curtain rod" or "Don't make your baby sister walk the plank!" whereas when you listen to it you can just enjoy the "Land Ahoy!" and "look lively lads" with Maddie's sweet little pirate chatter of "I'm going to bed now, I am berry sleepy!" interspersed through the pirate phrases! When you are 2 and a half your play scripts tend to revolve around sleeping or eating or going to the bakery for hot chocolate!

Anyway, I digress!  This is a baby hat and adult mittens in "Ivy" (which was also the first wool I learned to Navaho ply)  Not really my colours so destined for sale or the present box.

A present for my friend's newborn daughter Violet.  This is a bunny/merino blend plied with a straight "fairies" merino and soooooo soft and squooshy.  I love the way the bunny creates a fuzzy halo!

My July Quilt Finish was this small wall quilt for the AMQF Alzheimers Benefit.  The theme was "memory" and because my sweet Nanny has all but lost hers I made my quilt with a goat and donkey to represent "Green Acres" which was Nanny and Grandad's farm (a place I have very fond childhood memories of)  I don't like the challenge colours and I have never liked deadlines so this quilt was a tough one to do.

Lastly I finished off a cushion for Maddie's room using the leftover fabric from her quilt, and a pillow for my craft room using the leftovers from the couch quilt.  I love the way Maddie tries to muscle in on every photo!

And just in case, like me, you can't get enough of red and aqua - check out my little piece of loveliness in my Happy Place - makes me happy just walking into that room!
Hope you are having a lovely weekend and celebrating your finishes too!

Colour happiness!

These are my two latest navaho plies.  I have no idea what I will do with them but I love the yummy scrummy colours.  How is it that someone can spend most of their life liking muted autumn/earthy tones and then have a colour breakthrough in their 30s?!  I blame all the delicious quilting fabrics, and the tempting dyed fibres.
Hope your week is rainbow coloured!

Current Favourite Quick Meal - Cheesy Asparagus and Chicken Parpadelle

This has become a recent favourite (and I am just a bit chuffed that it was just a throw together that turned out well!)

Cook up some parpadelle egg noodles.
While they are cooking chop 3 bacon rashers, 1 chicken breast (or more if you like lots of meat) and mince about 3 cloves of garlic.  Fry together in a frying pan with a glug of olive oil.

When it is looking done add a bunch of thinly sliced asparagus and a big dollop (about 1/2 the jar) of Kraft Cream Cheese spreadable.  Turn the heat down and stir through so that the sauce is the right consistency.  You might want to add pepper at this point but don't add salt as the bacon and cream cheese are strong enough.  Don't drain your pasta too well as a bit of liquid helps the sauce to coat the pasta.

Mix altogether. Dish up and put shaved parmesan on top.

My kids have requested this in our fortnightly rotation and it has become one of my hubby's top 3 favs!
Best of all it is quick and requires little or no thought which is ideal for a busy work afternoon!

Tour De Fleece Finish

Well this is my total for the Tour De Fleece.  I did manage to make a sizeable dent in my stash.  I also made my first singles yarn, and spun bunny and kid mohair for the first time.  The girls in our group were just so much fun and I really enjoyed seeing the beautiful fibres they produced.  I must confess to checking ravelry way too often just to see what everyone was up to!

And now I can use up all of that wool to knit!
I do have a sneaking suspicion that I am not going to get any quilting projects finished for this month (sigh)
but at least my Apple Piecers Friends are now meeting once a month at night too so it was lovely to sneak a bit of extra stitching in!

My DH goes back to work after a couple of weeks holiday tomorrow so I feel like life is about to return to normal (well as normal as it gets around here LOL)
Have a happy week!
Nell

More Spinning - Silk Nep

This is the first time I have ever spun a straight single with no intention of plying it.  I like the nubbiness of the silk nep and because it is a silk/merino blend it is really easy to spin.  Lots of fun!

Ba(g) Humbug

My new knitting bag - I have been needing something to keep my lovely wooden needles safe so decided to practise the humbug bag pattern.  My friend Deb is making these for a charity that donates them to girls needing help with life skills.  Each one is filled with toiletries and care package items.  I've quilted the squares for a few of them but still need practise putting in zips before I am happy giving them to someone else!  Anyone else hate zips?

The kids are finally on the mend so there has also been more spinning for the Tour de Fleece, some last minute stitching and quilting for an Alzheimers Project, and a lovely day scrap booking with my friend Meredith today.

Tomorrow I am back to work and then Monday the kids are back to school.
Holidays, where did you go?

Tour De Fleece Day 8

Last night's spinning - a merino/mulberry silk blend spun up into about a 4ply.  Now to find just the right lacy pattern to show off the sheen of the silk.