fourth

as i mentioned when i posted about this top, i was very very close to being finished another big project off my list.

i finished it within a day or two of that post, but then it took me a fair few days to get some 'modeled' photos ha ha!



i've posted lots of notes on my ravelry page about this one, as there were quite a few tweaks i made to make this the perfect jumper.
i did NOT want a repeat of the previous jumper i had knitted for bb, where i was so unhappy with it after a year or so, that it ended up being frogged!

i ended up buying new yarn for this jumper in the end, as the thought of swapping and changing between dye lots had me not wanting to even make a start.
in the end however, i ended up running out of the 1000g (!) of new yarn i had bought (bb has quite a bit longer body and arms than the pattern designed for) and having to swap and change between dye lots in the yoke as i was finishing up...



i carried the two dyelots through the decorative ribbing on the back right shoulder, but it's not too obvious in the above photo i don't think...

i realised once i was a good ways into knitting the body, that i had a different tension to the pattern and i hadn't taken that into account in the number of stitches i'd cast on. absolute rookie error on my part, but thankfully, knitted fabric is super stretchy. phew!



this pocket is definitely one of my favourite things about the pattern. it's all knitted seamlessly, gotta love that!

the most important thing with this finish, is that bb LOVES it. if it wasn't for this crazy warm, completely unseasonable weather we've been having at the moment, i'm sure it wouldn't have come off his back!

this finish leaves two projects still on my list for the year.
though i mayyyy have started something completely new once i finished this up, so the likelihood of either of those two getting finished any time soon is slim ha ha.
we'll see!

slow sundays.

since moving back home to the country, i've been trying to really slow down, and savour our new environment.
now that we're a little more settled in that is...

in the week just gone, i got to a wee bit of baking.
i used this recipe to whip up some dinner rolls.



this is the start of the second rise they get, just before they were put in the oven. they ended up quite big! but boy were they delicious!
i'm not sure i cooked them 100% correctly as the texture was a little bit scone-y, but i kinda loved it and bb has already requested that i make it again, and again, and again!

i've been doing a wee bit of travelling to check out the 'local' produce selections.



this little collection came from the grow lightly food hub, about a 25 minute drive from our new digs.
all of their produce is from within 60km of their front door, and is produced with no spraying at all. i was impressed because this wee selection was a little over $20, and has gone a long way with a few pickings from the vegie garden at home to supplement.

i'm looking forward to checking out udder and hoe soon too. it's a wee bit closer to us, and seems to be doing all sorts of great things. i started following them on instagram last week, and there are beautiful photos popping up every couple of days. bliss!

i was invited by my mother in law to set up a little learn to knit and crochet stand at a little youth festival she was organising.



although i didn't really get to teach any students anything (i think they were a bit too timid to approach me) i taught bb a wee bit of crochet, as well as the girlfriends of two of my bro's in law. they all took a few things away which was awesome!
my three bro's in law were also playing live music so it was nice to sit and knit and listen for a couple of hours with nothing else on the agenda!

despite the fact that we're well into april, there are STILL mountains of tomatoes on our vines. i had a really big pick last weekend and while i was focussed on all things red and juicy, i came across this perfectly formed raspberry too!



as well as looking so good, it was the most delicious raspberry i'd ever eaten!
i'm hoping i might come across another few whenever i'm out there, as i found several green ones too.

this mass of tomatoes were turned into a passata type sauce for the pantry. so nice to be preserving this summer glut for later in the year!

after finishing one of the big projects i wanted to get done from the start of the year (will share as soon i can get some photos of it on my not so willing model), i took the opportunity to gleefully start something new! for me!



i cast on a siberia anorak for myself and i feel like it's already flying along! just as well as i can NOT wait to wear it.
we have a sample of it knit up at work and it is the warmest snuggliest jumper ever. like wearing a hug.
and who couldn't use a hug?!

how has your week been?

solar dyeing results.

a few months ago now, i posted about a little solar dyeing project i put together.
i waited until the 3-month mark ticked over this wednesday just gone...



and then got to pulling that sweet skein out to have a look!

i gave it a little rinse where unfortunately it lost a wee bit of colour. it dried outside overnight, thanks to the unseasonably warm autumn weather we've been having.



oh the possibilities!

i've got plans for this beauty, involving some fair isle, and the leftover naturally dyed skeins from this hat.
now to find the time to knit it...

part four - the pretty snaps.

as well as all the fun, on-the-go and candid shots of our big day (or days ha ha!), our photographer, luke (who took all of the photos in this post), also snapped some photos of us by ourselves, in a few different locations.



the wee park a few houses down from our place in blackburn...



the roof of the restaurant we had lunch in after our wedding...



my parents farm...



aaaaaand the adorable country pub a few doors down from our reception venue!

as well as taking the time to take these shots, luke also took the time to capture the small details of our day...



as well as some cute photos of photos! including me instagramming ha ha!



and then there were the fun bits and pieces, like a series of photos of me chopping wood.



why? why not!

it sure does make looking back over our photos a whole heap of fun! and they'll never not bring a smile to my face ha ha!

part three - wedding celebration.

today's instalment of photos shares a little about our wedding celebration, the big party we had on the saturday following our little ceremony and celebration lunch during the week.

our original plan was to have this wedding celebration on my parent's property, and we had started looking into marquee hire and the like, when bb and i attended an event at an absolutely amazing little place...



the archies creek hall.
a super adorable little country hall, that had everything we had been looking at having to hire for our shin-dig, at a MUCH lower price tag. plus with a much cuter vintage spin to boot!

we invited everyone to arrive nice and early...



picking somewhere to sit, and settling in with a drink, to watch a little video from our special day that my father in law had edited together.

we then made a grand entrance...



dancing in for our 'first dance', right over to our wedding 'cake'



being that bb isn't a big cake person, we opted for cheese! because who doesn't love cheese?

i was super grateful to my mother in law for putting this together, it looked so fantastic with all of the beautiful pieces of greenery and the crocheted band too!



we got the 'cake' cutting side of things out of the way too and while speeches were being made, our 'cake' was sliced up and served up for everyone to munch on as an entree.



the cheese was served up onto boards that my dad and mum helped me to put together from giant lengths of oregon i picked up at a recycled timber yard.



i think they sat well on the tables among greenery picked on my parent's property earlier in the day.

oh and amongst the vintage crockery that came with the hall. a definite drawcard when it came to making my mind up about whether the hall was the right choice for us.



oh and the beautiful fish-bowl champagne glasses were a bit lovely too!

along with the cheese, we had a fabulous buffet-style dinner of roasted meats, vegetables and salads AND an amazing dessert buffet too!

and for entertainment, there was plenty of dancing...



nutbush is always a favourite.

and our awesome photographer luke (who, again, took all of these pictures!) hooked us up with a photobooth too.
it was SO much fun!



the booth printed out picture strips for everyone to take home, and we got digital copies too. i think i might definitely need to share some of them in another post as they were just so cool!
for more details, check out the boothalicious site.

and finally, as our guests were on their way out, we encouraged them to take a plant...



roses that were propagated earlier in the year, from the yellow rose in our front yard in blackburn (i've shared it lots here on the blog!) but also, from the roses in my grandmothers garden.

it's been lovely having folks share how their little wee roses have been growing, some are getting quite big already!
i can't wait until they start blooming as there were lots of different roses that were propagated from my ma's garden. it's lovely to think that there are lots of little pieces of her garden out in the world.

i think i still have one or two more instalments to share... stay tuned ha ha!

third.

so this project has been done for a little while... since february according to the project page on ravelry! oops!

i was trying to find the perfect time and situation to WEAR the top and get some photos, but it just didn't happen, and now, well now it doesn't fit so well...
maybe i'll share some photos of me in it next summer ha ha!



this was my honeymoon project... i started just after we arrived onto the relaxing island leg of our trip and being that we were in far north queensland, and the humidity and heat were fairly intense, the linen and cotton blend of the yarn i was using was just perfect!

the construction was really interesting, the front yoke was knitted first and then the back yoke was joined (using a provisional cast on) and knitted afterwards.
once the back yoke matched the front yoke in length, they were joined under the arm and the body was knitted in the round.
the provisional cast-on was simple enough, but took a little bit of patience to get it looking beautiful and perfect when i was finishing it up.



the lace on the back is utterly spectacular!
i've removed cardigans to gasps of surprise and awe a couple of times. always nice to have such reactions to something you've made ha ha!

finishing this beauty, leaves just three unfinished projects from the list i had going at the start of the year... one of which is nearly finished, but the other two, well they still need quite a bit of work!
hoping to have them finished up by the middle of the year, which might be a little hard as i have one or two big projects on the brain, as well as a whole heap of baby knits!
wish me luck!

part two - post-ceremony lunching.

after the ceremony, we had some fancy shots snapped (which i might share another day...) and met all of our guests for lunch at mr price's food store.

it was the perfect place for our post-ceremony lunching. warm and cosy and comfortable, with delicious food and fabulous service!



i wanted to do a little something to thank our guests for coming along, and in true nicole style, it had to feature a little hand-made, or in this case, a lot hand-made!



i mentioned that i worked on some screen printing at the craft session last year in an earlier post, but this was my main reason for wanting to do that workshop!
i screenprinted panels with our initials and a heart, and then whipped them up into bags for everyone.
i also got busy with some wool and a hook and crocheted up some little amigurumi star wars characters (using the patterns from this book) too! they went into the bags along with a wee jar of strawberry compote.

those few projects kept me very busy in the few weeks before the wedding, and as i wanted them to be a surprise for everyone attending, those closest to us couldn't work out why i was so stressed ha ha!

so that's day one pretty much shared... there's still day two to go to!
i'm really enjoying the process of going back through these photos are reliving the memories. so much fun!


the same as yesterday, all shots in this post were taken by our ace wedding photographer luke.

a few wedding snaps...

i'm not entirely sure why it's taken me so long... but here are a few snaps from our happy day.
well day one of our happy day. we broke up our wedding into a few parts. our ceremony, in our backyard in blackburn with immediate family and close friends in attendance, followed by a beautiful celebration lunch in north melbourne. this took place on our 11 year anniversary which was a tuesday.
we then followed up the small, intimate ceremony and lunch with a bit bigger celebration on the following saturday, with extended family and friends helping us to celebrate!

i'll share photos over a few posts i think... today starting with the ceremony.



all of our photos were taken by the wonderful luke lornie. my hair on the wedding day was done by my long-time hairdresser sool and my makeup done by the lovely candice.
bb and i both bought our weddings threads off the rack. mine was from alannah hill and is a style i KNOW i will be able to wear again!

next up will be a few snaps from our post-ceremony lunch... stay tuned!