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Anxious Monkey

A quiet couple of days because Audrey and I both woke up with colds yesterday. Saturday was filled with appointments (hair cut, eyes checked) and a trip to our favourite park where we met up with our great friends Jen and little D for swings, slides and general frivolity.

Yesterday, in between naps and throat-soothing hot lemon drinks, I finished this monkey. Matt thinks she looks a bit anxious; perhaps she fears that she will catch this cold, too. Now I have one more monkey to get stuck into (hopefully not such a neurotic one this time) for the just-born nephew of a friend.

Pigtails

Days like these I'm so glad I had a girl... we have entered the era of pigtails. Excuse the blurry photo, it was the best I could do at breakfast this morning.

On the subject of cute, I found these the other day and am in love with, among all other things, the gorgeous fabric used. I'm off now to search ebay for Japanese fabrics...

Vintage Catwalk

Here is my vintage kitty for Loobylu's wonderful Month of Softies project. I've made a few cats before, but this time I altered the pattern a bit and this is the result... I am hoping that her strange oblong-shaped head gives her character! Anyhow, there was much fun to be had making her a vintage-style frock. I can also report that Audrey has affectionately named this cat 'Meow' (or her approximation of 'meow' which sounds something like 'maaaow'), and has heartily welcomed her into her personal flock of softies.

Here is kitty sunning herself in our back room:

After this cat, I am feeling inspired to make more, despite promising myself to try new things. I will try to be restrained.

Hot, hot, hot

It's so hot today! It's been over 30 degrees C for three days now, and with no promise of relief for at least two days, we're all feeling a bit hot and bothered. Cabin fever has started to set in in a big way, so I think a trip to the pool might be just what the doctor ordered after Audrey wakes from her nap.

In other news, I have finished my vintage kitty for Loobylu's Month of Softies project. I'll post a picture of her as soon as I take some, but in the meantime here are some garlic flowers that I bought the other day. Thankfully they smell nothing like their name suggests, and are very pretty to boot!

Change and rabbits

I haven't posted for a bit, things have been really busy. For one, our Chirstmas holidays came to a close and we've been getting back into our normal week-day routine. Matt and I are both back at work (only two days a week on my behalf, but it still feels like work!) and Audrey started her first half day of childcare. This is something I have really struggled with. Not that I have any problems with childcare: it's great for kids... I just don't think that I ever thought it'd have to be something that my kid would ever have to face. So, it's been an emotional week for us all. Of course, Audrey did really well - after a few initial tears she played in the sandpit, drew pictures, listened to stories, ate pizza and had a big sleep. I, on the other hand, sat at my desk almost curled into the foetal position with concern, hand twitching over the phone wondering if the childcare staff would think I was a little too clingy if I called 'just one more time'.

In the midst of these domestic changes, I relaxed a bit by the end of the week and got a bit of crafting in. Here is a rabbit I made for a new baby of a colleage of Matt's. I hope you like it, little Sophia!

Bib for Bub

In a fit of wanting to finish something in one sitting I rush-made this bib for Audrey last night and pretty much botched it; the binding is very irregular and the corners very lumpy! It was a good lesson in what not to do - I should have ironed the binding into place before sewing and taken more care when stitching together. Unfortunately, patience has never been one of my virtues and I generally try to keep away from ironing as much as possible, so perhaps this was a doomed project from the start. But, the fabric was cute, and it will certainly protect at least some of her clothing when she's flinging food about the place. Next time I might make the attachments velcro... ties are completely impractical on an active toddler, but I am so fond of the ones made by Little House that I wanted to give it a go. Might just have to notch this one up as a good learning experience...

Helloooooo....

For a while now, I've been thinking about starting a weblog to keep track of all my crafting activities, and finally here it is. Since my little girl was born 15 months ago, the crafting has gone into overdrive and I'm churning out more soft toys than she could ever need. I'm hoping that keeping his log will keep me on track and make me try the other many things on my to-do list rather than continually whipping up rabbit after monkey after cat.