Soaps and Gingerbread

So we tried our hand at soap making yesterday. Got a trial kit off eBay. The store I was going to use was closed over Christmas but I want to get more stuff from there when they open again :) They are melt and pour ones. Very easy :)

Anyhoo these ones were from the moulds in the kit. They are scented Raspberry Vanilla. I also added some Calendual petals to some.


For these ones we used some moulds from James' sand pit! They are scented Ocean Breeze. Some I added organic King Island Kelp to (an exfoliant).
It was so much fun and James loved stirring in the colours and additives. Then we wrapped them up in cellophane ready for gift giving.

This is the other thing we did yesterday - Gingerbread house. Also from a kit. I left it late getting a kit and this was the only one I could get. It only has a roof and two ends - not like the one we did last year which was more elaborate with walls and so on. This one was much easier though and better for James to help with so we'll get this type again from now on hehe! We are taking it up to my Uncle's for Christmas Tea to share.

The one we made last year got ants in it from a 'plague' we had at our house so Mum has taken it to her house to babysit it until Christmas night hehe!

Can't believe Laila will be one year old in 8 days!!! OMG!! Where has my little baby gone *cry*

More Wooly Goodness

My latest wool dyeing efforts are thus:

I need to give it a name hehe .
How about "Ethereal" ;)

I did plan on the pink being a bit darker than it turned out but overall I'm really pleased with it.

I've comissioned Liz to knit a Tikki Rainbow Dress with it. I'm going to dye some purple to match in (with any luck) for the bodice part and the hemline. The main body of it will be as pictured. It is going to look fab methinks ;)

Must make a swap for Liz too. Does Hamish want a sock monkey?

My other project just finished was this Chinese Waves dishcloth made from Corn yarn. I love knitting with Corn as it doesn't split like the bamboo/cotton blend yarns.

There is a mistake on this one near the top (the perils of trying to knit with an 11 month old toddling around getting into seven different kinds of mischief lol!) but as it is just for me I couldn't be bothered undoing it to fix.

I've just started knitting some for Tanja now (which I will be undoing if I make a mistake lol - so don't worry *wink*)

I can sing a rainbow.....

Been inspired to dye some more wool hehe! As if I didn't have enough projects on the go!! Just can't help myself.

I only did one 50g ball. I have really wanted to try my hand at a rainbow one for ages. Once I got Laila to sleep I set to work last night. I did rush it a bit because she usually wakes up for a late evening feed so I didn't know how much time I had. I probably could have done it a little better (it is a bit patchy in places) but overall I'm really pleased with it. Ahhhh pretty ;)

I did it just using food dyes. I got really impatient waiting for it to be dry this morning so I could ball it up. I also got into a terrible tangled mess because I tried to ball it up without a helper. Took me over an hour to sort it out oops. I should have asked Liz to wind it using her wool winder but I was just too excited to wait until I saw her next.

Probably going to turn it into a Beanie. I'd love to make something bigger but I know I'd never be able to dye another skein to match it properly lol!

Lots of fun! I have 200g of Bendigo wool at a friend's house *waves to Liz* waiting to be dyed so will be looking forward to that sometime soon.

To misquote Worf from Star Trek: The Next Generation "Today is a good day to DYE" lol ;)

Smarties and Chinese Waves

I had a request for a Sock Monkey and I finally got the time to finish him. He was sitting armless and faceless for a week but now he's whole hehe! I hope the recipient gets lots of pleasure from him. Laila adores hers, chews it and drags it around everywhere. In fact hers could do with a holiday in the washing machine ;)

Please meet 'Smarties'

Of course his name is only temporary until his new owner decides on what suits him best :)

In other crafty pursuits I've been doing more dishcloths. This is my first go at the 'Chinese Waves' pattern. I used Peaches and Creme Worsted Cotton in "bubblegum" colourway.

Next one I'm going to knit out of a plain colour so you can see the 'waves' more ;) I picked up some yarn from Spotlight and it is made from Corn fibre. Was on clearance for $1 a ball. Wish I had grabbed more than 2 balls though argh lol! Its lovely and soft.

Next project.... hmmmm...

Would love to make some pants and cute summer tops for Laila. I've got more of the cupcake material (see taggie blanket) which will look super cute. Just need some more time and for Laila to settle a bit better at night before I venture into it I think. So... more dishcloths here I come lol ;)

1st ever soaker knitted by me!

This is my first ever soaker knitted by me!!!!

It was a very easy pattern. Basically just a rectangle of rib stitch and then sewn up the sides with holes left open for the legs. Mum crocheted around the legs to finish it off for me. It is the first time I've ever done an eyelet hole too (for the waist drawstring).

Pretty proud hehe!

It seems to have Laila's seal of approval hehe.
And she liked feeling the textures ;)

Want to make another one now. Need a slightly longer rise for my giant ;) She's just so long.

I have some gorgeous wool that the lovely Suzanne dyed for me ages ago and hadn't knitted it up yet so this will be the perfect thing :)

Taggie Blanket

I've been making Taggie Blankets today and yesterday. This one is for Kara from NC.

I've also made one for Laila (or I might give it to a friend who is having a baby soon - not sure)

I've not actually made one before but I got some instructions and it was quite easy.
This is one side - white minky

And the other side is pink cupcake cotton. Very cute.

Ribbons are from my collection.

I hope she likes it :)

Knot Dolls and Face Cloths

I started making a sock monkey for Kara today but I wasn't happy with the socks I had so will be off searching tomorrow for something funkier.

Keith took the kids out to the library and park so I had some free time on my hands and decided to sew something else seeing as I had the machine out.

I have been wanting a Knot Doll for Laila fo a while now and so thought I'd have a go at making one. I had bought some lovely pink velour ages ago to try some mama pads out of (still yet to start those!).

I made a rough pattern and cut it out. Velour is so freakin' slippery to work with that I thought I had stuffed it right up but this sort of project is quite forgiving so you can't see the flaws hehe!

I'm so happy with how it turned out. I didn't really have any instructions on how to attach the hat or head but I muddled through and VOILA - one special KNot Doll for my little princess :)

Other projects I have at the moment are some bamboo face cloths. I'm thinking of giving them as Christmas presents with some little handmade soaps etc. Will have to search Oze and WahmNaps for some lovely soaps I think :)

I love the 100% bamboo yarn the best. Got this one at Spotlight. They have a couple of nice colours and mixes there. I bought some blue/white toned one too and some more of this one.

I made one from bamboo/cotton but the fibres split easily and I was getting myself into trouble there lol. I also made a dishcloth in 100% 8ply which was nice t knit with but it turned into a diamond instead of a square so that one lives on our sink now - not good enough for a present hehe!