The One About A Beanie for Minnie and Yarn Art.

 Not sure if you remember the above almost finished jumper from here, but finally it is now unwound, because Minnie wants a beanie in this colour.  I think the grey vest that I got at the same time would make a lovely beanie and scarf combo for this old Mumma's head and neck too.  Must unravel that one soon too.

 Minnie wants a beanie, so Minnie unravelled the unfinished project.  Little hands busy at work.  I love that this yarn swift is in its fourth generation of hands working it.  The stories it must have heard, over chatting and winding yarn, the items it will have unravelled.  

. . . .  and here it is, the finished requested beanie for minnie.  

It was finished last night, and this morning he found it and wore it to breakfast.  He loves it thank goodness, despite all the lovely little nobbles in it from being knitted and unwound.  It gives such a lovely texture and I don't have the heart to tell him that over time, this will flatten out.
Eye spy the little vest he is wearing?  This was made by Minnie's Nanna for her little boy (Minnie's Dad - my biggest boy of them all).  It is just so cute and Minnie loves it, although he is going to get warm in it today, but for now, he tells me 'I like when my tummy is extra warm.'  I like that it makes his tummy extra warm too.  He wants to pack this one for our little holiday, and I love that he likes to wear something that his Daddy wore.  It won't fit him much past this winter, so I am going to get lots of photos of him in it.  I wonder who will wear this little vest next?  

Yarn art.   

And just because I can, more yarn art.  

I think this would actually look really nice on our wall. . . . . Yes, I know, just a little strange is Joyce, but you know you love it.  


I am off here to get sorting, packing and cooking, we are getting ready for a little holiday, and there is much to be done.  I have closed the study books for the time being, they are not even coming with me.  I managed to get much more done that I had set myself up for, so now it's time for a break.  Oh the excitement of a little holiday with my family.  I am so looking forward to spending time with the man that I married, I am so looking forward to my boys hanging out with their Daddy, I am so looking forward to no agenda, no set destination, no worries.  


Thank you so much for stopping by my place today.
Have a wonderful day at your place.

Weekend Snippets

Happy Monday first day of our school holidays to everyone.  Woo hoo, Oh I am soooooooo excited.  We are chillin', we are not rushing out the door, there are no lunches to be packing, I tell you it's totally bliss, it's totally wonderful.  Although I have a huge agenda to get through and piles of study, there is no work for me, there is no school for the boys, there is even no sport or after school activities to be rushing off to.  With work and school taken out of the equation for the moment, I have plans to get through two electives this week.  Yep!  I know I can do it, I HAVE to do it, there is no other option BUT to do it.  Just like the little engine that could - I will!  

Did you have a lovely weekend?  We did.

 I have finished two crochet face washers or kitchen cloths for a friend, who crocheted me a lovely little bag that I just adore.  It sort of has turned into a little swap, which has been quite fun.   100% cotton from Bendigo Woollen Mills.  It's lovely to crochet with, and the finished product is lovely and soft, would make great face washers for little ones.   

 hmmmmmm, birthday cake for Nanna.  We had a lovely lunch out with hubbie's parents and then come back to our place for birthday cake.  Do you agree that birthday cake tastes so much nicer than regular everyday cake?

A beanie on the sticks.  As you can see there are only two sticks, yup, I found a pattern for a beanie using only two sticks.  It's a very old pattern that I scored at my neighbours garage sale.  Last night while knitting I was thinking about the beanie patterns that are on four sticks, and I wondered why I haven't given them a go, but on two sticks.  (I still have a beanie on four sticks from last winter that I just cannot finish)  All I have to do really is join the seam up the middle back when done.  I think??!! - Maybe!!  It's worth a try anyways, and if I use wool that can be felted, then can I felt it when done, and will the seam in the middle back disappear????!!!!  You know what, I am going to try that.  Why not?  I will keep you posted, I will do a beanie on a bigger head size cause I think when I go to felt it, it may shrink a little??  Hmmmm, has anyone done this?  Can you tell me if I am on the right track here, or just give up now and go home Joyce?  Would love to know your thoughts. 

Scored big at the annual Rotary bookfest.  We are going back as it's on all week.  Here are some of what we got.  There were millions of books, there were unopened boxes of books stacked on top of opened boxes of books, then in the back corner there were more unopened boxes of books and under the trestle tables were stacked more unopened boxes of books.  Bookfest alright - woo hoo to bookfest.  

Those two books up the back are full of lovely knitting and crochet stitches and patterns.  oh gosh, you are going to be checking out some lovely lacy scarves being knitted and crochet in the next few months.  Then there is the book of paper, that we are going to play with next week (after I have completed my two electives this week).  The blue hard cover book to the right is 'What Katy Did'.  The Tao of Pooh, I could not believe my luck in finding this book, it was recommended to me quite some time ago now, and there it was in the children section just for Joyce.  My awesome hubbie found The Wind in the Willows.  Gosh he knows me so well.  

A spot of tidying the bookcases, and I just could not part with any books at all.  I thought I would be able to have a little clean out to make room for new books, but . . . . . . . . no.  My eldest had a clean out of books, he has 'grown out' of his big picture books so he told me, but they have all just gone back into the main bookcase because there are way too many memories of snuggling and reading to be passing them on, besides I have Minnie to share them with as well still.

Are you able to have a clean out of books?   

Did you have a lovely weekend at your place?

Did you find some bargains?

Did you share birthday cake?

Are you on holidays?

Did you find time to cuddle?

Thanks so much for stopping by my place today, and have a wonderful week at your place.  

Sweet Dreamin'

We love stars.

Especially on pyjama shirts.

I used these to do the stars.

The boys have some lovely boxer shorts they use as pj's, however, instead of plain shirts, which are very boring, even in the dark of night, I coloured up some sweet dreams for them.  They love them and although my imagination just didn't extend far enough to give them different shirts, it doesn't bother them at all.  Since colouring these though, I have thought of a few more patterns to do for them.  

I think I want a little sweet dreams singlet for me too now.  

This single bed sheeting was op-shopped many months ago, 

with the intent of new jammie pants for moi!

Finally, here they are, and gosh they are lovely and soft and mega comfy.  


Do you like making something from something else?
Do you get excited when you have a plain white t-shirt, to transform?
What have you been making lately?


Thanks so much for stopping by my place today,
have a most wonderful weekend at your place.  


(Again our planet has been struck, please spare a thought to those in Japan right now.)

It's the little things. . . .

. . . . like apple seeds with little roots/sprouts? We decided to plant them to see what happens.

. . . . like a car boot sale near the markets that I HAD to check out, and discovered for $6.00 this beautiful little perfect set to add to my collection.

. . . . Like a wander down to the local markets to find a new girl in town, Nikki Brown, I love your jewellery. It was difficult for this Libran to choose just one.

Oh and this dress is a Lola Espeleta, and I love it, I totally just love it, and I want more of her stuff like this tunic and this double layer dress and this jacket and, and, and, and. . . . . anyways, back to the little things, sorry the dress doesn't match the choker, but I just had to wear it, cause it's new jewellery and I like to 'feel' how it feels. You know what I mean right? It's a girl thing, yeah? Or is it just a Joyce thing?

What are the little things that do it for you?

Do you have a fave designer that you would like to share?

I would love to check it out.

Thanks so much for stopping by.

When you least expect it. . . .

I would like to share some op-shop goodness I come across a few weeks ago. I have had them all wrapped in paper still in the bag in my studio, so now they are out and washed and ready to play at our place.

I don't know much at all about the makings/origins or values of any pottery, this is one thing I would so love to learn more about, you know, one of those days when I have more 'time'. I would like to know where things come from and how they are made. I don't go shopping for a particular maker/year/number or look for any special markings. I just know what I like and go from there. I don't care that it might be a one off item, or one of one million items. I have never been a 'labels' kinda gal.

I do love op-shopping tho, I would so love to know the secrets of where items have spent their time, what was their use, were they a gift of love, did the person travel alot, do they hold magical childhood memories for someone. I love that they now have a new home to gather new memories - I wonder the adventures they will have with us, and where they may go from here. I love they are not in landfill, hidden away, these little gems, and I love the money I give over for them will go to help another person in some small way. I love browsing the shelves of different items, everything has a story to tell, there might be a little dust, it might be a little wonky, it's all part of the charm, the discovery.

This beauty above will be filled with rum balls, coconut ice, homemade stars and all sorts of lovelies for Christmas. It is so pretty, there isn't a single mark or chip anywhere. Underneath tells me it's made in England by Tuscan Decoro Pottery and a pile of numbers. Well Tuscan Decoro Pottery, thank you.

Oh yes, I found a lovely pattern for moi! I so want the red outfit! That is what I bought it for, but since coming home, I do love me the little blue jacket too. Also lots and lots of buttons, I love brown buttons. Not much in mind for these just yet, but I hear necklace when I look at these.

I so wonder where these beauties come from? The two little floral plates so remind me of my Grandma and Nana. I don't quite know why, maybe it's the orange? Hmmmm, I just had to have them in any case. I see them on my dresser glowing with a tea light candle, I also see them on the coffee table with a doily underneath them.

The lovely orange vase/cup just HAD to live with us. Oh my goodness, I so love this item, it's my absolute favourite item of the day. There is no stamp, no number, not a single thing underneath it, I think this makes me love it even more. So totally mysterious, so totally orange. I am seeing gardenia and frangapani flowers floating in here, I see choccies in here, oh but not at the same time as the floating flowers of course! *giggle*

What little treasures do you have at your place? Do you like to op-shop? Do you like to source a particular year/model/make/fashion? Or do you go freely through the second-hand goodness letting items choose you?

Have a lovely day at your place.

What's On Your Table - Tuesday.

Little white motifs - $1.00 for the bag.

Big plans for these little cuties, but you will have to wait and see.

Incomplete Jumper $3.00

Incomplete vest $3.00

I don't feel bad unravelling these at all, it's the jumpers still on hangers in winter that I cannot bring myself to purchase and then unravel to use. I will wait for the heat of summer to purchase any winter 'unravel' stock. I think that is fair.

All this above was the same op-shop.

Across the top, 3 x tablecloths at $2.00 each - so love the pure white cloth, so many options for this one. The green floral is a huge round cloth, first thoughts were for a 'tabletop' for our picnic rug, but now thinking sundress for the Mumma.

Under that I have 6 x pillowcases at 0.50c each. Love these fabrics. The lovely bright orange is a little placemat and has a pretty floral pattern around the border. It was also 0.50c. It will go beautifully on our brown coffee table with little candles.

This is all st. vinnies op shop goodness.

2 x pattern books $1.00 each.

All this yarn here was priced differently and with other batches. I chose the skeins for $4.00 and the fellow at the counter could see that I liked these other bits so he told me I could have all of it for $4.00. I thanked him but told him I would give him $8.00 for it. He was chuffed and so was I. This was from the Westpac Rescue Helicopter Op-Shop, they need the money, especially in rural areas where transport to major hospitals is such a huge distance.

So this is what is on my table this Tuesday. There was one other purchase, however, I don't quite have time to share this one just yet. I could not believe I found it to be honest, I think I am still in a little shock. So I will leave you now my friends, as I have lots of washing and unravelling to be done.

I hope you are having a lovely day.

Tell me, what is on your table this Tuesday?

Feel Good Friday

My week is complete, my week is a success, my week has been study free (yes, naughty me), my week has been a tad hairy, my week has been a little sleep deprived, my week has been full of many things that I certainly didn't expect it to hold, but today, my week panned out, my Friday has been rather a tad rewarding in more ways than one.

Not to bore you with too many details, but I received some absolutely wonderfully, heart sort of goes 'oh thankgoodness' and the eyes well up with tears while in the checkout line with my trolley of groceries yesterday morning, sort of news.

Then yesterday afternoon in particular was a little ugg for me. I had an adult bare-faced lie to me, yes, straight to my face telling me a total hairy, big fat lier, lier, pants on fire, kind of lie. They knew it, I knew it, they knew that I knew it and I knew that they knew I knew that they knew it. Yet, they continued to set their pants on fire with it !! I am still in shock that this happened, anyways, Karma, lead the way I says, and am going to leave it at that!! Phew!!

Now onto my Friday. Drop my little ones to school, rainy on, rainy off, patch of blue, in and out of puddles sort of day, I headed off to the op-shops in search for crochet/knitting patterns, yarns of any colour/kind - phooey, no such luck anywhere at all today, so wandered through the racks, not really looking, picking up a canister here, a top there. Wander, wander ho-hum. . . . oh look what I can see. (refer photo above) I come home with a pair of Billabong cords - perfect fit. $3.00, Target green jumper - perfect fit. $3.00, and Rockmans blouse - perfect fit. $3.00 - the ribbbon bows on the sleeves sold it to me. What a total bargain for $9.00 all up, woo hoo, lucky me. (Oh the crochet throw under the clothing I made 6 years ago now. My Grandma taught me this pattern)

oh but wait, there is more, I then met up with 2 of the most wonderful women in my life for a hot choccie, and we had a lovely time together. Nothing else exists when you spend special moments with those that rock your world. Those special souls that are connected to you in some small way, that totally make you smile wider, that make your day less rushed, that make the silliest things 'go away'. I am so blessed to have such wonderful people in my life, the true treasures of my everyday.

Housework? oh what housework?? phooey to housework, I say. Spit spot Mary Poppins, on your way. Housework another day I say. Time with loved ones can NEVER be recounted, take the moment NOW, you never know when the wind will blow.

Feed Good Friday to you All.