Ecostore

I got an email a couple of weeks back asking me if I wanted to try some 'Ecostore' samples for free, no strings attached. I'd never heard of 'Ecostore' before and thought what the heck, what have I got to loose??

I didn't think anymore of it until yesterday afternoon when I picked up my mail and there was a big parcel waiting for me with all of these goodies inside...

I haven't had a chance to trial any of the products as of yet but am very excited about them and can't wait to start... They all smell and look amazing!!!!
These products are plant/mineral based and are free of nasty chemicals so you've gotta love that. If you pop over to their website they have a free laundry powder offer available for NZ and Aust. residents at the moment...
Also, while I was in town yesterday afternoon I popped into the secondhand shop for a little look-see.... I found this old wooden bookcase for $10 so it just had to come home with me... What a bargain!!!!!
It will be just perfect in my sewing room filled up with fabric....

Take Care.. :)

Long Unexpected Absense....

Sorry for the lack of posts over the last month..... I haven't been feeling all that well but now things are slowly getting back on track and I'm starting to feel like my old self again, full of energy, lets just hope it stays that way....

I've started the drawstring bag tutorial and am hoping to have it finished and up on my blog by the end of this week. I'm trying something new and seeing if I can make it a PDF. If it works I'll be able to put it in my sidebar for people to use whenever they like.

I finally got around to hanging those gates that I got my Mum's engineering business to make me nearly 2 months ago.... Here's the 2 at the front of the house (sorry the car's in the way)...

Here's a closer pic just in case you couldn't quite see them in detail... DH still has to cut the posts to make them level. He's leaving that little branch on the one on the left so I can hang a hose on it.....

Now we have to make a path to the front veranda. I was thinking of laying flat rocks down in a mosaic type pattern, what do you think??? Any other ideas would be great too!!!!

The knitting/crochet bug has slowed right down but before it did I got a chance to whip up this little smocked washcloth.... It was the easiest by far out of all the washcloths I've made recently. On the 'Growing Challenge' front my squash are coming along nicely, will show some pics later... I've also got some mortgage lifter tomatoes which I planted from seed just about ready to migrate to the vege patch. I had a go at planting some parsley from seed this year too, you never can have too much I say..... Man does it take FOREVER to come up. I planted my seeds about 8 weeks ago and they've only just decided to pop up and say hello... God only knows how long it'll take before I have an established plant....

Take Care... :)

What's Wrong With Me????

Thanks for all of the great feed back on the drawstring bag. I'll try and get the tutorial done and posted by sometime next week so stay tuned.... :)

I can't believe that this knitting/crochet bug is still going... There really must be something wrong with me at the moment... LOL!!! I usually get bored and move on after 1 or 2 projects but now I'm up to project number 5 with another 2 already in progress and due to be finished tonight, can you believe it??? Well I can't!!!!!

Here's some pics of the face washers I made for a friend who's b'day is this week. This one is knitted using a gorgeous cotton/acrylic yarn by Patons and this pattern.....

And this one is crochet using 100% cotton yarn by Sullivan's (the same stuff I used for the nappy cover) and this pattern. Even though both yarns were the same ply (thickness) this crochet cloth feels SO much chunkier....

I'm going to try and make some homemade soap to go with these cloths, only if I get the chance, and I have the fabric all cut out and ready to be sewn for a drawstring bag (same as the one in the last post) to put it all in.

Drawstring Pouch and some Mittens...

I whipped up this little reversible drawstring pouch on Sunday night using just over half a metre of fabric in an attemp to help my little sister learn to sew a bag of her very own....

It was so super easy and if anybody is wanting me to do a tutorial for one just leave a comment and if there's enough interest I'll try and get one up on my blog in the next couple of weeks.
I'm using this one to carry my latest knitting project around in, a washcloth which will be a pressy for a friends b'day that is coming up very soon. I can see many more of these little bags in my life, they're just fab and ever so handy to tote that latest project around in.

I've also managed to crochet a pair of these mittens for bub #2. They should match the little booties just nicely. Now all I need is to find a little singlet pattern, anybody know of a good one out there????
Take Care and happy crafting.... :)

Knitted Slippers

Not too many words today....... I got a chance to knit these slippers up for bub #2 last night though while watching a bit of T.V.

They were sooooo quick and easy that I think I might have to knit another pair up very, very soon... I used cleckheaton bamboo, what a gorgoeus yarn!!! Seen as though I've purchased 4 x 50gram balls of it and these little treasures only used about 1/4 of one I can't wait to use the rest of it up, maybe on a matching singlet and mittens... What do you think???Take Care.... :)

Knitted Nappy Cover....

Thanks for all of the lovely birthday wishes for my little princess Connie....

I've had a chance to do a bit more knitting of late and whipped up this little nappy cover.I used cloth nappies with Connie and intend on doing the same with bub #2. I always dreamed of having homemade nappy covers like these ones. Hopefully I'll get a heap more knitted up in several different colours before he/she comes along.

It's so hard to pick colours for 'baby stuff' trying to keep both sexes in mind... Yes that's right I still don't know what I'm having yet, don't get me wrong the surprise is going to be just lovely but DH and I had kinda talked ourselves into finding out the sex at the last scan but unfortunately the nurse was unable to see anything..

Hopefully this green cotton yarn isn't too dark... I used cotton yarn to try and make it as cool as possible as my little bub will be wearing this in the middle of summer.

With such beautiful Spring weather here over the weekend I got the urge to plant some more seeds....

Strawberries and Garlic Chives.... YUMMO!!!! I've always wanted to grow berries and don't know why I never have.... Any tips for great strawberry growing out there???

Take Care.... :)

Happy B'day Baby Girl......

I can't believe that my little princess turns 2 today....These pics were taken at the surprise party that Granny held for her last Friday night. She had the best time as you can see by the look on her face...I've loved every minute of our first 2 years together Connie, my little princess, and can't wait to see what adventures the next 2 bring.

A Bit of Sewing Time....

Over the weekend I got a chance to whip up a couple of skirts for my little princess......

All I did to make them was cut a 12' x 32' rectangle out of some fabric from my stash, stitched the 2 12' sides of the rectangle together to make a tube, hemmed the bottom, stitched on some cute trim then hemmed the top and inserted some elastic. Too easy!!!!

I'd say it's about a size 2-3... I got the super cute trims from Reprodepot about 6 months ago and am so happy with the quality that I can't wait to head on over there again to buy some more of their trims...

Seen as though my little girl is pretty obsessed with putting things in pockets at the moment I added a pocket to the one below...

Next on the sewing agenda is a couple more of these aprons and some light weight pants for Spring...

Thanks for all of the advice on the gates from my last post... After changing my mind several times I've finally come to a decision... I'm going with the less-fancy option of the gate in the first pic, with the added swirly bit on the top of coarse.. I can't wait to pick them up this weekend from Mum's and when I do I'll show you all some pics!!!

Take Care... :)

Slowing Down A Bit.....

I finished that cardi that I started a couple of weeks back but am yet to take a pic of it all sewn up so this one of it finished and ready to be sewn up will have to do for now... :)Isn't that green just divine??? I used the same yarn that I did back here and loved every minute of it... It's so super soft and lovely to knit with....

We started pulling down and building a new fence around our farm house last weekend and I'm finding alot of my spare time consumed by this task so the knitting has slowed down for now.... I'm getting some specially made gates from my Mum's engineering business and from her many designs I'm finding it hard to choose between these 2.... I'm leaning more towards the first one as it was named after my little princess 'Connie' but I think it may be needing a little swirly thing added to the top like the one in the second pic to jazz it up a bit... The second one is good too but maybe the mesh down the bottom needs to be on the diagonal like the first one.... Decisions decisions???? I'd love to hear what you think??? Any feed back would be great!!!!!

Take Care and have a FANTASTIC weekend!!!!!

Still Knitting....

I still can't believe that I've now finished 2 knitted projects bigger than a scarf or beanie.....

This little 5 hour baby sweater (even though it took me much, much longer than that!!!) is so super cute I can't wait to knit up another one.... I knitted up the 8-10pound baby size (it's about the same as 3-6 month, my baby was 8 pound and there is no way that this would of fit her at birth). I finished it off with a little red velvet ribbon, next time I'm thinking a couple of buttons at the top would be pretty cute too...

I've now started on another cardie and can't wait to get it finished... If only the knitting bug had struck back at the start of Winter, not at the end... LOL!!! Oh well, just think of all of the cute Summer things I can start knitting soon.... Take Care :)

Knitting Bug....

With babies popping up (or should I say out?? LOL) every where at the moment the urge to pull out the knitting needles has stuck again... This time I've actually finished something bigger than a scarf or gloves... It's this cute little Debbie Bliss Shrug.....

Now I'm a pretty novice knitter at the best of times but with the help of You Tube and a few handy 'how to' video's it was a breeze mastering this super easy pattern by Debbie Bliss...

I started this shrug on Tuesday night and finished it last night, talk about instant knitting gratification!!! Seen as though the knitting bug has well and truly made it self at home I couldn't help but cast on this little number this morning before work.... It's going to be a gift for a girlfriend who's due to have a baby girl in a couple of weeks... Her colour preference was red, not pink, RED!!!! I can't wait to see how it turns out...

Just one last note before I sign off for today.... I'm so grateful for all of the inspiration and support that all you bloggers out there offer each and every day. If it wasn't for this 'network' of supportive people I really would find it hard to focus on a daily basis like I do....Take Care and THANK YOU!!