little lovelies.

every week, i try and share a little list of lovely things that have happened throughout the week in my neck of the woods, to try and keep myself looking on the bright side of things.

wednesday night at ncb, i was lucky to receive this tote as my kris kringle present from the one and only curlypops.



i love it so much, and so does sampson apparently... the bag you can carry anything in ;)
you can get yourself one from here if you love it too!

i had a particularly crappy morning this week at work (as well as a late breakfast) and chocolate ice cream was the ONLY cure!



part of being an adult is deciding that some days, you just need to have ice cream for lunch right? just me?

monday, i whipped up a big pot of stock with my leftover chicken bones and whipped up this bouquet garni to help flavour it.



even though i'm not really coming close to getting as much out of my garden as i can and would like to, i'll always have my expansive herb garden ;D

i've been going a bit mad with the knitting recently...



literally, going mad. i was so excited to get this little band of ribbing done on this project, i felt the need to show it off. in my pyjamas. in bed. it was a rocking saturday night for me!

and finally...



i raided my local green grocer (and by that i mean, i asked them nicely) and found TWO gigantic polystyrene boxes! now if i can just tear myself away from my knitting for half an hour and i can plant my tomatoes in them!

how has your week been this week? had any mornings that only chocolate ice cream could fix? knitting driving you mad?

my creative space.

this morning, i promised myself, that i could stay in bed and read ALL of the posts that had stacked up in my blogreader over the last couple of days.
i am super glad i did because i found out that kirsty is back crafting and blogging AND my creative space-ing.
so today, i'm sharing what's going on in these here parts!

to be honest, it's a LOT of knitting.

i cast on a little beanie (intended as a gift) to use up the scraps from this project and this project.



i'm playing yarn chicken a little as i have no idea how much yardage is left and if it'll be enough. hopefully i'll be ok!

i also cast on a milo on wednesday night when i didn't have the right size needles to cast on some more socks.



the milo is NOT a gift so i most certainly shouldn't be working on it. it's just SO fun! the socks however, i need to get working on straight away as they ARE a gift. i'll get there....

and as always...



there's a dishcloth in my knitting bag too. they're so simple and i can generally get a few rows done while waiting for the elevator on the way to and from work.
i'm knitting in EVERY free second at the moment. i just can't get enough!

do you get obsessive about your craft work sometimes? are you a knitter too?

join in with my creative space over here

kris kringle present. number two.

last night at ncb (the fortnightly craft group i attend) we had our annual kris kringle present swap.
we do things a bit differently to your normal kris kringle swap though, in that we don't make a gift for anyone in particular. we make a gift that we think is nice and that most everyone would like. this way, there's no disappointment if the person who pre-picked your name can't attend on the night!

the gift i whipped up this year was a bousta beret.



it was quite an interesting knit. it had WAY more lacework than i'd ever knitted before and required a lot more conscious thought to maintain the pattern than i'm used to... i have spent that last month knitting dishcloths after all!



i think i'd like to knit it again. particularly now that i've got the hang of the pattern.
though i'll make sure that i fix my tensioning next time. this hat was a wee bit tight on my head...

i finished this hat up on tuesday night and promptly spent a good hour taking photo after photo, trying to get a good picture of me modelling it.



but this guy trumped me in about 5 seconds flat! his lovely mumma, cathie was taking it home, and though she's not a hat person, i hope it fits and is loved by one of her other little people!!

do you participate in kris kringle present swaps? how do you go with complex lacework knitting?



ravelled

green love.

i feel like there's been lots happening out in my back and front yards over the last week, with the super sunny days we've had, coupled with the bit of rain too. perfect growing conditions :D

i was thrilled to receive this basil cutting from a co-workers mum when i got back from sydney.



i finally got my butt into gear and repotted it over the weekend. hopefully it likes it's new position in the back yard and grows me lots of delicious basil!

my garlic shoots are starting to look a bit sad...



i'm hoping it's because it's harvest time and not because i haven't been watering them enough!

i'll have to consult my two favourite gardening books to find out!



i feel terrible because i haven't picked up either of these two books in months! i think it is definitely why the only new seeds i've sewn are tomato ones!

i know i keep posting about these...



but they're growing at such a rate! i can see the bulb popping up from the ground a bit! so exciting!

and i haven't posted about this plant in a while...



but holy cow, look at my raspberry plant! it is threatening to take over the entire bed!
love it!

what's growing in your patch this week? do you have delicious plants almost ready for harvest?

dishcloth'n

one of my november goals was to knit up some more dishcloths and it was one goal from last month that i felt i could put a big ol' tick next to.



i managed 5 in total. well 5 and a half if you count the one that is still on my needles...
at an average of more than one a week, i'm pretty happy with that total...



though it hasn't even come close to clearing out my cotton stash like i'd hoped... 5 and a half dishcloths down and i haven't even finished up one ball! there is still plenty of dishcloth knitting to go!

i'm hoping to get my cleaning cupboard tidied and sorted at some point this month to clear some room for these beauties to go. hopefully there's a couple more to go in there by the time i do!

did you complete any of your november goals? do you make your own dishcloths?

meal planning monday.

monday again! i'm off from work today, so i'm getting lots of things done around the house AND in the kitchen.
i've got a pot of stock on the stove, using up last night's roast chicken carcass, a bucket of bread mix proving on the bench and i just popped a half finished bottle of wine in the back of the car to start fermenting into vinegar.
things are happening :D

anywho, i've also got a meal plan happening for the week ahead too!



tonight, i'm going to use some of that stock, as well as the leftover chicken meat, to make a risotto. i'll make up a nice big salad to go with it too!

tomorrow is supposed to be a pretty warm day, so i think i'll fire up the bbq (and clean it, it hasn't seen the light of day since last summer!) and cook up some sausages, and some corn! i'll harvest some of the spinach i shared last week and make a big salad to go with it too!

wednesday is ncb night! hopefully it should be a good night, and there'll be lots of delicious options to choose from on the menu!

thursday night should be a bit cooler, weather-wise so i should be able to stand having the oven on for a bit ;) i'll grab a chicken breast out of the freezer, stuff it with some garlic butter and wrap it in prosciutto. should be delicious with some salad and maybe even some oven chippies if i can be bothered!

friday night, i'm working late. osso bucco in the slow cooker should be good!

saturday, i'll be at work all day, so i think i'll leave dinner up to bb.

and sunday, i'm hoping we can go out for dinner somewhere nice! it'll be bb and my 9 year anniversary! phew!

what are you eating this week? is the weather warm in your neck of the woods?

december.

goodness me. december.

a super late post today as i am absolutely POOPED! i've worked all weekend, and it was ridiculously busy! phew!

how about a november recap?

in the last month, i FINISHED my cert iv (just waiting for the results to come in...), i finished the blue socks, used my diary more, ate breakfast moooooost days (25/30), and took my lunch to work more often than not. i also knitted up a little stack of dishcloths, and whipped up a softie for mirabel.
i also drank a fair amount of soft drink. not as much as i did last month... but still some. willpower is not so great...
my woodland sampler for november is almost done, just need to steal some sparkle thread from this lady to finish it off!
my christmas plans are slowly coming together. i mostly know what i want to make, or i've already made it :D

now for the month ahead...



what are your plans for december? are you making christmas presents? are you stitching up a woodland sampler too?