Friday, November 16, 2012

Super Amazing Blankets for Super Beautiful Grandkids - part 2

I thought I was going to have a few years off before revisiting the baby blanket marathon.  But no - another call from that darling boy, I'm going to be a nannie again!!  So exciting - but wow, these two kids of mine have got their work cut out for them for the next few years.
So the planning started again.... what to make, what to make.  So many choices I must admit that I jumped from one idea to another - ooooo.... and I must admit to the fact that I jumped from one purchase to another.  So much fun!
First up on the idea was some lovely hand dyed yarn from a local lady who operates under the name of Olive and Emma - here.  I purchased her lovely rainbow yarns and lots of grey - I had intentions of knitting a blanket with rainbow hearts, just like the hottie bottle cover shown here.  But then when I thought about it and remembered that these kids live in the tropics and this is beautiful merino - not the most intelligent idea of the month.
So onto the second idea - I found a beautiful crochet motif blanket in a magazine I sell in the shop.  It is in a warm beige with bright coloured flower motifs sewn around the edges.  Exquisite.  And then I found some equally fantastic yarn in cotton and silk to make it.  I was so geared for this wee one to be a girl that I hadn't really given much thought to what I would do if a wee man appeared on the scene.  Plus I really really love the rug and could see it thrown over my couch.  Sigh.... where to go from here?
Well I have certainly taken the long road of getting to the blanket I would actually make.  I was sorting through some drawers and found some cotton yarn I had bought a year or so ago to make a blanket for my bed.  I hadn't been happy with how the crochet squares had turned out so it had been put into the replanning drawer.  Well here was the perfect use for it.  I already have a ripple rug on the go - I saw it a while back on Attic24 and had started one of my own.  I just love rippling so I finally got to a place to start my own new ripple rug for the new family member.  The photos below show just one weekend of rippling and I am super pleased with the results.  I am sure that the colours are going to be fine for boy or girl - I will wait to complete the borders when I know more.  Brown/Blue for a wee man and Pink/Green flowers for a little lady.  Oh - I so hope it's a girl.... I can just see a mass of flower motifs being worked into a very special flowery border.    But we shall wait and see - only a few months to go now.


So that's the story of the baby blankets.  I do think this wee family will stay at two parents and two kids for a while and I can start making other bits and bobs for these two very special young peoples.  I do love being the Nannie, even if it is from afar.

Sunday, November 11, 2012

Super Amazing Blankets for Super Beautiful Grandkids - part 1


Now anyone that knows me well knows that I like nothing better than starting amazing beautiful projects that I get totally obsessed with.  The success rate for completing these projects is relative on a few things.  First up is whether or not another bigger obsession appears that totally obscures the previous one.  Then there is happiness factor - whether I just LOVE the project and can't put it down because it is so goddamned fantastic.  Then there is a responsibility factor - whether I am going to be held accountable for completing a project.  That last one doesn't happen too often as usually the projects are for myself so I can tell myself that there is no hurry and tomorrow is another very beautiful day to think about getting back to a project.

So anyway - where is this post leading?  Well 15 months or so ago my very precious son rang to tell us that we were going to be grandies.  Yikes!  Was he ready - hell, was I ready?  Well once the dust settled and I got to know his lovely gal and decided that yep he was ready and I was ready - well then the planning all about what I was going to make started.  Well I hummed and harred until I settled on this lovely blanket on Ravelry found here.  The next issue was what colours - these kids of mine weren't making it easy by not finding out whether they were having a boy or a girl.  So I settled on bright and found some bamboo/wool mix in delicious colours.  And I commenced knitting….. and I kept knitting….. and then I knitted some more…. until the day arrived when all I had to do was sew in the ends.  WOW!  For a day I was no longer a procrastinator - I was a FINISHER!!

So here is the finished product next to my kiwi's (just to remind young Rydah of his kiwi roots) and here is the young man himself under my beautiful FINISHED project.  But the story does continue - more in a moment or maybe a day or two.

Monday, November 5, 2012

Whiizzzzz! There Went A Week!

Can't believe how that week just passed me by.  I achieved a bit, thought about achieving a bit and missed out on achieving some things.  But all good at the end of the day because I can just add those slipped things to the list of things yet to be achieved ;)
I have popped a picture of tonight's dinner on this post because it was such a simple thing to make but the taste value was out of this world.  First up I roasted some squash pumpkin in the beloved coconut oil.  Roasted it in their skin and did them really well till they were crunchy but so soft inside.  Then I diced up some carrots, celery, zucchini, broccolini, asparagus and I'm sure there was something else but for now what it was escapes me.  I stirfried them in some avocado oil till they were cooked but still had a wee bit of crunch.  I removed them from the pan then poured some cream into it and reduced that down to white sauce consistency.  Oh my!  I simply popped some pumpkin and vegetables onto my plate and poured the cream over the vegetables.  On VERY scrummish dinner in a very quick time.  So easy to get your plate of veges with this dish.