Has it been that long?

 Hello, I can't believe it been that long since I lasted posted, well it doesn't help having the computer crash on us so I've been doing other stuff other than been on the computer, well I have been on the Internet on my IPhone when I have my morning decaf at my favorite coffee shop. But I got in the habit of not going on line plus I have been sleeping when my hands are not hurting. I've been very tired this pregnancy I been resting well feels like hibernating I have a case of carpal tunnel in my hands so I haven't been knitting hopefully that will go away once the baby born but I did have a few UFO I wanted to finish they can wait.
I few weeks ago a very special package arrived in my mail box It came all the way from Holland it was such a beautiful surprise it really cheered me up I haven't been sleeping that well at night due to the pain in my arms from the carpal tunnel so I'm sleep during the day all over the place when I can. So this parcal really put a smile on my face it is so cute we love the monkey I like how Els put a clip on it tail so I can attach itto things so we don't lose it when we are out. Thank you Els for thinking of us I'm sorry for not posting sooner now the computer is fix I can get back into regular posting.

 Last month my boys had their birthdays

 I love these series of pictures of MrF the big effort in blow out those birthday candles it serious stuff.

 And of course Lou Turn big 6

 Katie  took these pics on my IPhone it was about a month ago before the weather started getting cold there's no was Id be popping my belly out now out side in this cold weather. Only indoors

 Lou very excited about 5 weeks to go I can't believe how fast it has gone by Lou talks to the baby allot I'm sure the baby will be well acquainted with Lou one the bub on the out side.

Autumn Colours

I'm enjoying the beautiful colours of Autumn at the moment. I'm feeling the cool change in the mornings and evenings as we move towards winter.

I received a parcel in the post the other week from my wonderful friend Mel - thank you, they're beautiful! I love the purple colour. They are just what I needed as I didn't have any knitted socks or beanies. They will come in handy - it does get very cold up here in winter.

Last week we went to a friend's new place she and her family have just moved to - 34 acres right on the bushland. She has the last house on her long street. It is so beautiful and peaceful, and it is only a few kilometres from the heart of town but it feels like you're in the middle of nowhere. We went for a walk on a bush track that took us to a crystal clear billabong.

Katie was enjoying the tyre swing. The sun was setting and the light was golden. I forgot my camera so I took these photos on my phone.

Once the sun set it was very dark. Lucky the moon was out so we could see our way back to our car.

Gum Leaves

Well, I did it. I finally finished my Annabel Cardigan. I finished it a few weeks ago but time is getting away from me again, so I haven't been on the computer much for the last few weeks. I've just been busy and all of us have been sick with the flu and a tummy bug, but I am getting some knitting done. I've started 3 new things - one I've almost finished (one little baby vest) but I lost my notes on where I'm up to. So that's on hold for a little while. I also have another baby cardigan and have started on a shawl.

It is such a wonderful feeling to finish a project after so long. I started this cardigan last year and put it down .... and there it sat.

I've been wearing it quite a bit and have had to take the pilling from under the arms. When it rained the other day, I got caught with out my umbrella and the cardigan got sprinkled on. The Cascade Eco+ did get a bit of a spongy smell about it. I haven't washed the cardigan yet, so maybe the smell might go after I give it it's first bath.

Katie took these photos for me. Here is my pregnant belly. I'm starting to really show now.

Noro Breeze

I've put this lovely shawl I knitted a few weeks ago up on Ravelry, but I forgot to blog about it being busy with knitting baby items. This is yet another freebie from Ravelry called Breeze By Simone Eich.

I was pleasantly surprised when the designer, Simone, contacted me on Ravelry to say how much she liked my shawl. It was a real boost to my knitting ego LOL ;) Some days I get overwhelmed by a the amount of talented knitters and crafty bloggers out there. I spend far too much time checking out other people's creations on Ravelry and Pinterest to see what other people are doing, rather than getting on with crafting and knitting myself.

This is the first shawl I have knitted that I have finished.

Yep, another Noro item! I do love Noro - I love the colours. I got this skein of Noro Taiyo Sock 5 at The Wool Inn a while ago and it had to come home with me. It sat there with the rest of the Noro companions in my stash, waiting for the day for a pattern to be knitted up. I did some searching on Ravelry and found that someone else had knitted up this shawl in the same colour way. It looked gorgeous and thought, this is it - I had to knit it up, and it looked like it was a simple pattern to knit up.

Lou's Woollen Egg

Lou did a little bit of Easter craft this week. Easter has just snuck up on me.

We made a wet-felted egg. I have a plastic egg that I use as a template and I gently needle-felted some white wool around the egg to get the shape, then add the coloured wool.

Here is some mixed coloured wool that I got from Spotlight a few years ago. Lou picked this wool out from the wool stash.

I filled the sink with warm water and Lux soap flakes, and Lou did the fun bit of rubbing the egg for a while and playing in the bubbles until the wool had shrunk around the plastic egg.

Here is what it looked like finished. While it was still wet, I cut a zig-zag half way across the middle, took out the plastic egg, re-shaped the felted egg then let it dry in the sun. On Thursday, Lou took it to school filled with little chocolate Easter eggs as a present for his teacher (which I forgot to take a picture of).

She loved it!  :)

Lego Chess

My kids are never cease to amaze me.

This morning, Mr F asked me if  I could  get the chess set down off the cupboard for him and Lou because they wanted to play a game. I didn't think much of it. I gave them the board and got on with a few things. As I was passing by the room  I saw this ........ 

I had a giggle to my self. I thought it was so cute and imaginative that they had replaced the chess pieces with their Lego characters, and the boys made up rules on the go. I could hear them working together to work the game out between them.

I couldn't find my camera - it is somewhere in this house. So I used my phone instead. My camera is probably right under my nose and I'm not seeing it, but I've been doing that a lot lately. Luckily, I have my house keys on a piece of leather attached to my handbag otherwise I would never get out the house. But I have been going around in circles looking for my glasses (LOL..).

I'm not sure how the game ended. It was packed up by the time I got back in from hanging out the washing.

A Very Green Little Cardigan

My knitting needles have been busy for the last few weeks, getting unfinished items knitted up and starting new little items for the baby.

I'm enjoying the little projects - they are quick and satisfying when finished, knowing that the newest member to my little brood with be wearing something that I made (and these little items are great for my stash busting too).

Here is the latest item I have made. It is called Bluebell Cardigan (a freebie from Ravelry of course). I knitted this up quickly and no hassles with the pattern, unlike another raglan pattern that I started then frogged after 2 attempts.

I used Noro Retro that I got on sale from WEBS Yarn.com a year ago when they where having a closeout sale - it was $4.95 US per skein. I bought it for Katie because she loves green, but she thought is was too bright for her when the parcal arrived so I knitted her a scarf instead. I have quiet a few skeins left over so here's 2 skeins down.

It is bright but I like it. I love how its different shades of green are broken with a little bit of white - it works quite well. I sewed these little white shell buttons on but I'm still deciding; do I sew more buttons onto this cardigan to close the front up or leave it at 3 buttons?