beanie follow-up

a while ago, i blogged about the beanies i had made to send to the beanie festival.
a while later, i popped them in the post, but not before attaching the necessary swing tags, complete with my little old blog address written on them...
this was something i decided to start doing last year, in the hope that i might hear some stories about the beanies i had made.
last week, i got a lovely little blog comment...



a lovely story about one of my beanies. so sweet!
hope you're having a lovely weekend!

my creative space.

today i'm working on a little amigurumi something...



with some velvety wool from my stash.
i'll have to wait and see how it works out i guess...

more creative spaces over here

meal planning monday.

monday again. after a weekend away, i definitely need me some planning to get myself through this week!



for tonight, i've got some chicken in the fridge, ready to go, so i'm thinking some mediterranean chicken for the slow cooker. sans olives (neither bb or i are a big fan) and maybe with some home-made pasta...

tomorrow night, date night. i'm craving some dumplings, so we'll be heading somewhere with some delicious ones!

wednesday night is ncb night, meaning we'll have a special dinner guest. i'm thinking italian meatballs. in the slow-cooker of course.

thursday night, i'm keen to try slow-cooked chicken cacciatore with a parmesan crust. delish!

and friday, i'll pop and aberdeen sausage in the slow cooker before i go to work. i've never had or made one before, but it sure sounds delicious!

saturday and sunday i'll leave up to bb. he's quite the chef when he sets his mind to it! last week, he made the most delicious rolled pork belly roast. to die for!!


what are your meal plans for the week?

sunday snippets.

playing along with tinniegirl and her sunday snippets.

i've had a fairly great week, a short one at work, and a fantastic weekend away with some lovely ladies :D



what have you been up to this week? pop over here and share!

happy saturday.

to get through this miserable weather we've been having, i thought i'd share this little video i came across through this lovely lass.



these two young'uns are seriously freaking talented. check out more of there videos here. it's sure to put a big fat smile on your face!

happy weekend!

what i'm reading...

it's been a long time since i did one of these posts, not because i haven't had time, but because i haven't been reading!
the last couple of months, reading has just been one of those things that i haven't quite gotten around to... partly because when i get into bed, i'm exhausted, and partly because of a complete lack of light in our bedroom to read with.

well i can happily say that changed on tuesday this week,



with the addition of these beauties to our bedroom! i love their retro style and that blue *swoon*

so back to what i've been reading...
i started these two while i was away.



they were the perfect size to carry around in my bag and i therefore read them a lot on the go... on the plane, on the beach, in the spa, brilliant holiday size really.
and the read itself was pretty good too! i'm not a huge fantasy fan when it comes to literature, but bb is. he basically forced me to take these with me and i'm super glad he did!
i just need to get to reading the other 35 books in the series...

the next thing on my reading to-do list are these chunky things



i'm back to studying part time at the moment. a work related (and paid for!) certificate IV through an online learning provider.
as much as i know i am a born procrastinator when it comes to all things study related, i'm actually really looking forward to the learning aspect. i love to learn :D

now that i've got those swanky reading lights too, i'm hoping to finally make use of the library membership i took up well over a year ago too! we'll see what happens...

what have you been reading lately?

my creative space.

this week, i've been having a bit of a knit-a-long!
the lovely lisa has put her needles and brain to making another fabulous pattern in "honey" a beanie with a very sweet, vintage inspired beanie pattern.




i've had a few struggles with this one... the first time i cast it on, i cast on 92 stitches instead of 96. and then after deciding to just fudge the pattern, i managed to misread the pattern and only did one row of something i was supposed to do three of!
proof you should definitely not knit something new when you're dead on your feet!

the other issue i've had with this beanie, is my choice of yarn i was so keen to get going on this pattern, that i grabbed the first ball i could find, which i unfortunately only had one ball of...
i had a bit of a think while i was knitting away, and remembered that i bought this yarn from spotlight, a good year ago.
chances of finding it again today in my tiny (and generally useless) local spotlight?



close, but no.

so has anyone got this yarn in their stash? i'd love to finish this beanie and will gladly swap some stash yarn, or make you something sweet :D
in the meantime...



i mayyyy have found something to knit with in the meantime... i've got a beanie planned for a co-worker who is celebrating a birthday soon, and one for my mum too. sshhhhhh! don't tell them though!

pop over here to look at some more creative spaces.

meal planning monday.

it's been a bit of a struggle, trying to get back into the swing of things since getting back from our little getaway, but i figure planning out some meals will definitely help!



i had grand plans for dinner tonight, great intentions of having something delicious bubbling away in the slow cooker before i left for work... i even bought chicken in my lunch break at work yesterday, only to leave it sitting in the fridge at work! *facepalm*
so instead, i've grabbed some bolognaise out of the freezer, quick, easy, delicious.
tomorrow night is date night so we'll be heading out for dinner, hopefully to somewhere new and exciting (to us anyway...), but i also have the day off from work. so in between studying and housework, i'm hoping to get a pot or two of soup made. i've been buying it from the supermarket premade to have for lunch at work but i know i can make it myself at a fraction of the price :D
for wednesday, i might throw that chicken in the slow cooker. with some spices. paprika chicken, yes indeedy.
thursday night, i'm at work 'til late, so i'll definitely need to throw something in the slow cooker for bb when he gets home. maybe curried sausages? yes, that'll be fabulous!
as for the rest of the week... well i'm off away for the weekend (again, i know!) with my lovely lady cousins and aunties and my mum for a bit of catching up and r&r. it's going to be wonderful!! i've got some books ready to be packed, i've got some cupcakes on order to take with me, oh and i need to buy some wine!
can't wait!

what are your plans for the week ahead!

bamcal-ing away.

i'm happy with how on the ball i've been with this month's bamcal squares.
especially seeing as how i haven't even blogged about them the last 2 months!



i've also been quite good getting them all together and into blankety form...



it's at a pretty good lap blanket size at the moment and i'm only half way through! can't wait until it's finished!

are you working on any slow-burn projects at the moment? or maybe you're even joining in with the bamcal?

a week away.

hello! have you missed me?
i've just gotten back from a brilliant week away to far north queensland! oh the weather, compared to the weather here in victoria, well it was beautiful!



good food, many drinks, great company, swimming, beach cricket, walking.

yeah, a pretty fabulous weekend all told :D

what have you been up to lately?

a little finish...

i thought i'd share a little finish today, one i started last week.



the project i was working on was wrapping my headphone cords in embroidery floss.
not only do they now look SUPER pretty, they also don't get in a horrid tangle in my bag/pocket/hand.

it wasn't exactly a quick project though...

have you finished anything lately? finishing feels great huh?

make it in may.

at the beginning of may, i mentioned that i might whip up a skirt and join in with curlypops and her 'make it in may' skirt sew-along...

then it got to the end of may...
and i hadn't even made a start! but i had been doing some thinking...

i'd bought a massive length of fabric from the oppie, that was a nice and light piece of linen, perfect for the weather in tropical far north queensland (i'm heading there later on this month ;D).
and that got me to thinking a little more... i knew that i wouldn't have had time to sit and trace and pin and press and all of those complex dress making things...
then on my day off i thought, 'stuff it!'

i folded my material in half, cutting it into a square (well squarish...)
then i folded it into diagonal eighths and cut a round shape from the middle

then i cute a length of fat elastic to fit my waist and sewed in into the hole i'd cut, hey presto!!!



SKIRT!

i did then press the skirt, and hem it. and i'm quite proud of the hemming job i managed too,



just look at those neat little corners!
i'm just a little bit proud of my last minute efforts. and i think it'll be beautiful to wear while i'm away, so light and breezy! and perfect to go over a pair of bathers :D

check out the other skirts on the curlypops blog, or over on the flickr stream.

sunday snippets.

playing along with {tinniegirl} and her sunday snippets.



what have you been up to this week?

photo a day in may.

i'm thoroughly enjoying playing along with fat mum slim and about a zillion others in the photo a day challenges.
every month is different and i love to come up with something creative... well most of the time. sometimes i just take photos of my feet!



i'll definitely be playing along this month too... will you?
i'm @misscoleyann over on instagram if you want to join in the fun :D