my creative space.

yesterday, after having knitted a fair few dishcloths (using this pattern) i decided to play around a bit...

i made a larger, man sized one, for bb, as seen on my needles yesterday.



i finished it off and hung it in the shower for him, ready to use this morning.

i've also been playing around with the texture a little...


with this one, i've put another row of the decorative edge on. just don't look so closely at the top edge... i seem to have greatly lost concentration in the decreasing portion of the pattern, which is not surprising considering how much more difficult it made the knitting!

what have you been getting creative with recently? you can find more creative people over here!

also, would you like to pay it forward?

pay it forward.

why hello there, it's been a little while...
a full week of work last week and i seem to have contracted a killer cold this week = not too many blog posts written :D
all good though, i'm in recovery mode now and therefore am back in the blogging saddle!
so what's been going on?

i've developed an unhealthy obsession with knitting dishcloths.



i've completed three already, and this one is about to come off my needles. a man-sized one on the request of bb.

i've also been keeping on with the slow-cooker. i must say though it is hard to get used to this way of cooking... (it's not hard to get used to coming home to a delicious smelling house and an almost ready to serve dinner though ;D) i'm used to slow cooking in the oven or on the stove which means adding lots of water to cope with evaporation. but no evaporation with the slow cooker :D
i am getting there though :D with delicious practice runs along the way!

i've been watching this little hyacinth, slowly poke it's way through the dirt in the little jar on my windowsill too. i can't wait for it to grow big and tall and fill my kitchen with the lovely scent of it's flowers :D




and i also signed up with sally to pay it forward. i'm more than a little excited, i love receiving and sending mail so it's most excellent :D
how it works is...

i'll make the first 3 people to comment on this post a little gift within the next year

and they in turn, write a blog post about paying it forward and send something they made to 3 other people within a year :D
the only catch is, that you have to have a blog, so you can pass it on!

meal planning monday.

i thought i'd play along with the lovely pink patent mary janes and her meal planning for the week.
this morning, i got up nice and early to set up the slow cooker meal that i mentioned last night. oh boy did i appreciate it when i got home from a long day at work. melt in your mouth beef, in a rich and delicious tomato sauce, ready to be spooned over a little bit of pasta and topped off with some fresh and zippy rocket.




i may have used the hashtag #foodporn when i posted this photo on instagram earlier. completely justified don't you think?

in any case, i'd best get to the meal planning section of this post... my intention with my meal explanation, was to point out that i will be using my slow cooker a LOT over the next coming weeks (or every day for the rest of eternity...)

tomorrow will be the exception however as it is date night! i'm thinking mexican! there's a pretty awesome mexican restaurant within walking distance of our place that we've only been to once! in almost 3 years! can you believe it?

wednesday, i'm thinking slow cooked curry. chicken curry in fact... i think i'd best be off to trawl the internet for a good recipe :D

thursday will be another slow cooker day (i'm working so many days this week!). maybe something lamb-y? maybe lamb shanks? in a white wine and vegetable broth? sounds perfect!

friday is my late night. late night shopping = late night working. retail is so great, isn't it? i'll probably have soup at work (i've just discovered these soups in the fridge section in the supermarket, so easy, so delicious!), bb is on his own!

saturday i'll leave in bb's court. he's home from work all day, i'm at work all day. seems fair to me!

and sunday, well sunday i think i may just have to try out this mouth-watering recipe i've just found. yep. i can see this going very well...

what are your plans for dinner this week?

sunday snippets.

joining in with tinniegirl for sunday snippets!



post surgery chipmunk face.




and post surgery snack. i've eaten a lot of sorbet this week...




soaking up some rays.




knitted up a quick washcloth (pattern). i've gotten another on my needles now :D





first solid dinner in a long while, courtesy of the ashwood farmer's market.

now i'd better hop off to bed, back to full time work tomorrow and i've got a delicious slow cooker meal organised that i have to get up early to get started :D

how has your week been?

my creative space.

is very quiet today, but very productive!
bb has forbidden me from basically doing anything so that i can rest up and feel 100% again soon, which means lots of granny striping, eating of soft foods and copious amounts of tv watching...




a girl could get used to this!

pop over here for heaps more creative spaces :D

march blocks.

i got started on these blocks relatively quickly, refreshing the bamcal page obsessively until the new patterns were posted on the 1st of march.
it just took me a little while to get them all finished. well actually, it took me a while to get nice photos of them...




now i just need to get them joined onto my growing blankie...

but not today though, i had my wisdom teeth removed this morning, so i'm on relaxation duties for the rest of the day. eating sorbet, drinking lots of water, watching copious amounts of tv and doing some nice slow granny striping!

a little sew-a-long...

i mentioned in my last post, that i had signed up to cam's lisette sew-a-long...
and last night, having gotten home from work, and knowing that today was a public holiday i decided to make a start.


i spent a good 2 hours trying to get the fold in the right position to lay my pattern pieces correctly, and then another hour or so cutting them out. i've definitely still got a lot to learn when it comes to dress making.



i found the construction of the dress itself to be VERY simple (and i'm a complete and utter novice...)
the most difficult part for me was probably working out the whole binding thing, which way it was supposed to go on, and which bits to press and which way and what to sew together.



the whole binding process was actually explained quite well, it was just that my brain wasn't working too well as it was well after midnight when i got to it and i'd worked all day (and the day before that and before that...) i made a little adjustment as the arm holes were much too wide for me (and everyone else it seems...) luckily i'd read a few posts about finished dresses before i started (like bec's and cam's), so i knew i'd most likely have to take them in.



i even learned a few lessons along the way.
*don't flail your hands around in front of your sewing machine, at 1 in the morning you will most certainly impale your finger on the needle (big ouch!)
*actually look at the way you're supposed to thread the bobbin into the machine (my bobbin cover has a little picture indicating how to do it...). last night i learned that i haven't been threading it properly EVER! i've had my machine for almost 10 years!
*binding, cut on the bias, is freaking amazing. i never understood before, how it actually worked! but gosh, love it!
*taking the time to sew the binding on by hand will make it look a million bucks. there's no way i can sew an even line around a curve.



i was so excited about my dress, i wore it to a picnic today with friends from work. no one believed that i'd gotten home from work last night and made a dress.
made me soooo freaking proud :D

in summary, this is a dress i'd recommend for anyone to make. it's got the ability to fancy it up a bit if you've got the skills, or just keep it super simple and basic like me.
i've got another length of material ready to go so i think i might make a few alterations, pockets in particular!

how has your long weekend been?

march.

last month i didn't write a monthly to-do list, something that i started doing last year. i'm not sure why, i think i was having a bit of a busy time with work and i just didn't have to mojo...
but i'm back with a vengeance baby! monthly to-do list is go!
first up, is this months bamcal squares!
i finished joining together january and february's squares yesterday afternoon...


and they're definitely feeling warmer!
i can't wait to get the patterns for march on (and off) my hook and to get them joined on to this growing blankie :D

in march, i'm also booked in to get my wisdom teeth removed! i'm having them out under general anaesthetic as i'm terrified of knowing exactly what would be going on, teeth cracking and pulling. eep!
i've got a few days booked off work, as does bb, so it'll be quite nice to spend some time together, even if it will be a bit uncomfortable for me. i've got plans of cleaning out and painting our kitchen cupboards while we've got the time off together but i'll just have to wait and see how it all goes for me! wish me luck!

this month, as part of my monthly reading goal, i'm getting stuck into 'the hobbit'
i've never been a big tolkien fan, i've found in the past that his wordy and descriptive prose tends to send my mind wandering, but knowing that the hobbit movie is coming out in december is getting me focused.
i've also started a little morning ritual...



reading on the kindle while sitting on my exercise bike. stretching my muscles and my mind. forever the multi-tasker! it's ensuring that i have that little bit of time to read everyday and that i'm getting some exercise. it ticks two boxes of my big 2012 list! interesting first paragraph that i decided to photograph... very funny words from ms. marieke!

and finally, as yesterday was leap day (a day where you should supposedly do things you wouldn't normally do...) i signed up to a sew-a-long. now the concept of signing up to any crafty type-a-long isn't unusual for me (hello, bamcal!) but signing up to a sewing one is! the full details of what we're sewing are here (you can join in over there too!) and i'm fairly excited! i'd love to get into the practice of making myself clothes and this dress is just so cute!

what are you getting up to this month? do you have a big to-do list like me?