Bike helmets and poppies

Just when you thought this blog had turned into a floral tribute (and, let's be honest, it pretty much has - this post will not be without flowers), I actually make something. Granted it was only a card, but I was inordinately proud of it because I am terrible at drawing and I drew something that actually resembled the object it was supposed to.

It was a card for Alex and Cam, who had the best non-baby shower baby shower on Sunday.

There were so many cute and comedy presents and nice people (the booties and jersey above were knitted by Aileen and I was really jealous). It was at a 50s-style diner and the meals were HUGE. Then Alex and Cam and Kitty and I went home and watched Burlesque. I have now seen it three times and I'm not quite sure why.

Last night I cast on and knit six rows of my latest Baby Knitters Club project while babysitting a very cute almost three year old. I am knitting the Pebble Vest which I have seen a lot on a blog I read. It's knit across as one piece, which mean casting on 80 stitches. That is one long row.

And in floral news, the very nice florist at Bunches included some poppies in my weekly $10 bunch of flowers for my desk. So far only one has opened and it has been amazing to watch. I wish I'd had a time lapse camera taking photos of it.

How does it know to do what it does even when it's been cut off from its roots? It's actually incredible. I hope the other three buds open.

Picture perfect

I forgot to document the Christmas cards I made this year! Once again I used the old stick-a-photo-on-some-nice-card trick. This year the photo was from my outing to The Roxy cinema in Miramar. The hanging lamps seemed suitably sparkly and festive. I had a whole lot of double sided stickers left from the Christmas cards I made in 2010, they're actually for sticking photos into photo albums, but they work beautifully. I was, once again, disproportionately proud of my simple skills.

Yesterday was my last day of freedom before returning to work, so Kelly, her friend Andy, and I caught the train and went winetasting in Martinborough. Upon arriving we had to fortify ourselves with brunch at The Village Cafe at the Wine Centre, and then we meandered our way out to Martinborough Vineyard.

What may appear to be trophies to the majority of the population, was apparently confused for a spitoon by some lovely wine tasters who had gone before us, because the middle trophy had red wine in it...

The weather was lovely, the wines were excellent (although, I don't actually know anything about wine, I just know whether I think something tastes nice or not), and we had a yum platter at Margrain Vineyard which is where I think I got my terrible sunburn from. It was a surprisingly cheap day - $20 return on the train, $4.50 each way for the bus from Featherston to Martinborough, and $5 at each vineyard to taste all the wines - which, at most places, was then refunded if you purchased a bottle. Obviously we spent more because we bought food, but I was surprised how little it cost to fake being a wine connoiseur for the day.

Get your card on

Essential ingredients for card making

(although, actually, it wasn't alcoholic, just cranberry and mint with an umbrella)

On Monday night I went to Gabe and Simon's for dinner and a card making evening. I wasn't sure how much card making would get done but Gabe was determined to create a stockpile.

What you can't see in this photo is Simon sitting on the couch hard at work sewing onto a card, and my flatmate Tom sitting on the floor drawing. You can see some of the various fabrics on offer, Jess made excellent use of some pink sequined material. Her cards were very...creative.

Actually all of the cards were quite hilarious as well as amazing. Simon's sewn candy cane card can be seen at the very front of the display, he had been keeping his sewing a secret the whole time and was very proud of himself when he revealed the finished product.

These are my cards. I made a total of three in two and a half hours... I hadn't realised how slow I am at making things until I was with other people. I sit and think and then rule and cut and arrange and glue very precisely. But I love my cards so it was worth my snail's pace. I got a bit carried away with the old sheet music Gabe had for us to use. It's so pretty. For the front card I used some scraps of wrapping paper I had tucked away, it's going to be for my baby cousin Isla's naming ceremony in two weekend's time.

A Very Cherry Christmas

I love Christmas! I was so excited on the 1st of December when I realised what the date was as I was walking to work. I immediately changed my iPod to the best playlist in the history of the universe: A Very Cherry Christmas. I LOVE so many Christmas songs and I think the reason is partly because I observe a strict 1st - 25th December rule with them. Nothing before or after. The same with decorations. It's just unnecessary and too soon to get your Christmas on before the 1st of December. Well that's my opinion anyway.




I have made Christmas cards and Christmas gift tags for as long as I can remember, with varying degrees of success. I feel like this year I hit the jackpot in terms of cards that were easy and quick to make, not too expensive, and had a Christmas feel that didn't involve icicles or anything that's not so relevant to New Zealand in December (I mean, honestly, what could be more relevant in any context than a series of knitted leaves?). Also I was happy I got to use one of my favourite photos from the year for something practical.

I was glad to find card in a nice shade of red that has a good thickness and a bit of a metallic sheen to it, somehow it made them seem a bit classier. Overall, I think the finished cards look pretty darn stylish if I do say so myself.

Yes I know, I sound overly pleased with myself about this but I actually love these cards. So there.

Cards, cuteness, and Breakfast at Tiffany's

This week I've made two cards and done no knitting since Monday - except to teach my friend's 7 year old daughter how to knit. I guess the needles are pretty long when you're little, she looked so cute trying to wrangle them, but she managed to do a pretty good job!



The latter card was for the 50th birthday of my friend Hayley's Mum. But due to the nature of my mixed up family, Hayley's Mum is also my step-sister Ashmore's step-Mum; or to put it another way, my step-Mum's ex-husband's second wife. Got that? Family jungle aside, Kerry had her 50th birthday party last night and on all the tables were little favours one of her friends had made. They were all so pretty and full of jaffas!


As nice as the 50th was, so many people (especially older ones, as in around my grandparents' age) sucessfully made me feel like the absolute incarnation of Bridget Jones by either asking, 'Have you got a boyfriend?...Why not?' or 'Have you found a new boyfriend yet? You'd better get a move on.' The next family event I go to I am going to make a t-shirt depending on the status of my love life; it will either say, 'No, I don't have a boyfriend so don't ask' or 'Yes, I have got a boyfriend. Are you happy now?'

Yesterday afternoon I had a really nice time with someone who couldn't ask annoying questions. In fact he didn't do anything except be really really cute. I was babysitting the cutest baby in Hataitai again, who seems to love the Wellington International Ukelele Orchestra! I put it on at one point when he was in his high chair and he banged away with his spoon in pretty good time to the beat, and then later on, after his bath when he was all clean and even cuter, we had a bit of a dance to it and while I sang along he seemed to try to too. Babies are so nice when you can give them back.

Then this afternoon Alex, Ed, and I had our third classic movie afternoon. This time it was Breakfast at Tiffany's, which I first watched around 10 years ago and about which I couldn't remember anything except that I wasn't that impressed and thought it was a bit boring. This time, however, I really liked it. Except for Mickey Rooney's awful and pretty offensive Mr. Yunioshi.


Talking about it on the way home, Ed and I agreed that nothing much really happens plot-wise, but it's about a certain type of lifestyle and outlook on life and a lot of the characters are very interesting. Also, while the character of Holly Golightly can be infuriating, Audrey Hepburn is undoubtedly a babe and her costumes are amazing (the hat! The little black dress and that infamous long black dress! The dress that looks like she wrapped a sheet around her and tossed the end over her shoulder and still looks stylish and amazing!). I got given the book the movie is based on for my birthday a couple of years ago and still haven't read it, but watching the movie makes me want to see what it's like. Apparently the book is set in the 1940s but for the movie they updated the time setting to the present day (which was the 1960s). Favourite quotes:

Holly: It's useful being the top banana in the shock department.

Holly: Do you think she's talented, deeply and importantly talented?
Paul: No. Amusingly and superficially talented, yes. But deeply and importantly, no.

Holly: You know the terrible thing, Fred, darling? I am still Lule Mae - 14 years old, stealing turkey eggs, and running through a briar patch. Except now I call it having the mean reds.

Holly: There are certain shades of limelight that can wreck a girl's complexion.

So that's the headlines from another busy weekend and it's my first day at my new job tomorrow so I'd better get some sleep!

Stitches and seams

It seems birthday season has begun and as such I have been busily stitching cards.

This one took forever; luckily I had a lazy Sunday afternoon in which to do it. It looks like a 6 year old wrote the words because I wrote them back to front on the inside to hide the markings.


This one was a bit quicker and I think it's quite cute. Someone at work saw the card I made my Mum for Mother's Day as I was putting it in an envelope to post and said, 'Oh that's nice, we used to make those at Brownies when I was little.' It made me feel like I was in the remedial card making class...oh well! The present that went with the balloon card is also really cute but I will wait until the recipient opens it before I write about it here.

Last week I bought a little present for myself on payday because Knitsch was having a sale on some limited edition colourways and I couldn't go past Good Evening, Aviator.


I think I am going to try to knit a pair of socks when the show is over. I looked for sock patterns on Ravelry before I started the Baby Shrug but they all seemed a bit hard (and some of the ones that seemed really basic looked ugly). However, my Stephanie Pearl-McPhee's 'Never Not Knitting' page-per-day calendar had some wise words the other day that I need to remember when I start looking for a sock pattern again:

Sometimes I hear knitters say they are 'afraid' to try things with knitting, and I just don't get it. What's the worst thing that could happen if you fail? The yarn will rise up against you, resulting in injury or death? Other knitters (who never make mistakes) will find out and kick you out of the club? (Hint: All knitters make mistakes.) Be not afraid. It's only knitting. Be fearless.

I wish I could muster the same gung-ho attitude for seaming the Baby Shrug; I tried doing it this way again at Monday night Knitting Circle last night but again I wasn't happy with the results and ended up pulling it apart and continuing with a leaf for 'It's a Tree!'. A lovely Lynne from Marton emailed me some photos showing how she does seams so I will have to give her method a try. Failing that, I think a visit to my Nana or my two great aunts for some help will be necessary!

In the post

The post is a bit erratic in Mum's part of North Canterbury. Sometimes something she sends me will take two weeks, sometimes two days. I posted this on Wednesday so hopefully it makes it in time.

Enjoy...

Your birthday

A good old 'wrapping paper reused' card for my aunty's birthday.

Progress!

Last night I was feeling pretty yuck due to my cold (which has turned my voice into that of a pack-a-day smoker crossed with a pubescent boy) so I sat in front of the TV and knitted all night. Amazing progress was made:

And I finally understand how it's going to work when it's finished (finishing is now seeming infinitely more possible with every row which is a goood feeling).

Amazing! The scary bit coming up once I've finished the right hand sleeve and front is taking the stitches on the holding needle and starting the ribbed edging that goes all the way around the front, neck and bottom edges. But hopefully like everything else I've thought was going to be scary and hard, it will actually turn out to be relatively easy. Hopefully.

Here's a card I made during the week, for Guy on his opening night:

He loves MJ, who even features in the show, so he loved this card. One day when he makes it big and I can sew, I might even make him a replica gold and black outfit...

Rosettes, Mannequins, and Banana Muffins

So the card turned out quite well. It took me a lot of last night to make the rosette because I've never made one before and just figured it out for myself through trial and error (I can do things without the help of the internet!). It's not perfect but I'm very happy with it.

Sadly no knitting has happened this weekend and is unlikely to until Monday night Knitting Circle tomorrow. That's because after finishing the card I met Guy in town and we walked around looking at the first day of this very cool NZ International Arts Festival event, Revolt of the Mannequins. French street theatre company Royal De Luxe has put mannequins in 10 shop windows around Wellington and each day the mannequins are moved, less noticeably at first and then more and more obviously. A story unfolds in each window (the stories are unrelated) and the mannequins are pretty lifelike and often freaky looking. Royal De Luxe has done some really amazing work with giant puppets operated by cranes - see this YouTube video of The Little Girl Giant as an example.

This morning I made muffins bright and early as had a friend coming for lunch. My favourite tried and true Best Ever Banana Muffins. They honestly are so quick to make and always taste good.

Best Ever Banana Muffins

3 large ripe bananas

1 egg

3/4 cup sugar

1/3 cup melted butter

1 1/2 cups four

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

(can add chocolate chips if you want)

Preheat oven to 190 degrees celcius. I'm all for the fan bake setting.

Mash bananas in a bowl (I use a potato masher, much quicker than a fork), whisk the egg in a cup and add to bananas. Add sugar and melted butter. Mix with a wooden spoon (not sure what difference this makes but the recipe specifies it).

Sift in flour, baking soda, and baking powder (if you want to add chocolate chips add them now - about half a cup or more depending on how chocolate-y you want them). Mix quickly.

Bake for 15-20 minutes in greased muffin tins. Makes 12 muffins.

So quick and so good.

And now I'm off to rehearsal and then the Fringe Awards this evening. If only I could knit at social events without being considered antisocial or weird. I wanted to knit during a show the other night but Guy expressly forbid it, he said it would be so off-putting if he was in a show and looked out into the audience and saw someone knitting. A poll of one other person found that this view was seconded. Fine. When Tea for Toot is on I am going to INVITE people to knit if they want to, I won't be offended.

With love

I love how this turned out!

I know I'm not the first person to sew thread onto a card so I'm not claiming originality here but it's the first time I've done it and I'm really pleased with the result. I think it will become a new card making favourite of mine.

In fact, Guy is currently on his way home from a 'stag party' in Martinborough (it was a comparatively dignified affair - they played paintball, stayed in nice accommodation, and had a BBQ and played drinking games as opposed to going to a casino and a strip bar for example) for a friend he is going to be a groomsman for next weekend. I'm going to the wedding too so I think I will make their wedding card the same as above but minus the 'XTX' (the 'T' is my version of a hug for Guy, it's a big wide-armed hug). I might have a go doing it on the sewing machine but I also like the uneven handmade-ness of the hand stitching.

This morning Guy rang and told me to look under my bed...

He's a pretty good card maker himself.

Deadline schmedline...

Yes, that's correct. The dish cloths did not make it to the post office on Friday, nor today because the mail isn't cleared on a Saturday so there's no point in sending a parcel until Monday. Except I'll be couriering it, probably for an exorbitant cost. BUT...it'll be worth it. I am so proud of my finished products, not least because they have a LABEL. A last minute idea that contributed to missing my Friday postal deadline which was already extended from Thursday.

Voila!

I LOVE the labels. Guy designed my little blog header for me in January (using a photo I had taken of my scarf with some artfully arranged cherries for the purposes of a header) and on Friday I had the sudden and brilliant idea to get some printed on slightly thicker paper, punch a hole in them, and tie them to the cloths to really impress my Mum. As she doesn't know I have a blog (the only person who does is Guy so, hi to all the people out there not reading) she won't have seen the image before and I secretly think she'll be so impressed she won't believe it's all my (and Guy's) doing.

For a bit of a full-frontal:

I need to learn to cast-off more loosely, my stitches are so tight they make one end smaller than the other.

I have to say I am now convinced about variegated yarn. I think it looks cool. I'm glad I persevered because a few rows after my last post I could see how it was going to work out and I liked it a lot more. This dishcloth has taught me some valuable knitting lessons:

• Even when knit with exactly the same type of yarn on exactly the same size needles as another piece, knitting something in ribbing makes it a lot stretchier.

• Even when knitting more stitches (40 instead of the 34 on the green cloth) and more rows (again, 40 instead of 34 on the green cloth) ribbing something makes it a lot smaller.

• I should have gone 'border, rib, plain, rib, plain, rib [etc], rib, border' or 'border, plain, rib, plain, rib, plain [etc], plain, border' because the way I did it 'border, plain, rib, plain, rib, plain, rib [etc], rib, border' means either end doesn't match because there is a flat bit next to the border and then a raised bit (the bit I'm calling rib) next to the other end's border. If you catch my drift?

The last two are my only disappointments with this cloth, it's a lot smaller than the green one so I wish I had made it longer rather than a square like I did the green one. I didn't compare them until I had cast this one off so I didn't know it was any smaller at all. And I would rather either end matched.

I also made my Mum a card. I used to make cards all the time but I've never been good at drawing so they were always cards that avoided drawing and instead involved sticking squares of cool wrapping paper on the front and the like. However, the price of cards is ridiculous so I bought some WHITE card (I usually always use black) and decided to make her a card. I tried the good-old wrapping paper trick but it looked ugly so I took the plunge and had a go at drawing something.

I like it! I really like the simplicity of it (who knows whether they look more like leaves [they're supposed to be leaves] or stingrays but also, who cares?): the black on white, and the card has a 'linen' texture which also adds a little something something to it.

Earlier in the week I gave this card and treat to a colleague who is very nice and cool who was going in for surgery yesterday. Making this card helped me warm up to the idea of just me, some white card, and a black pigment liner:

She loved it.

I have also just had an idea for a homemade (I often make Guy cards, he's the one person I'd kept the tradition going for in recent years) Valentines card. Not that we're big into Valentines Day but we do celebrate it (last year when he was in Paris at L'Ecole Phillipe Gaulier for a month during February, he told me I had to be at Simply Paris cafe at a certain time on Valentine's day and organised for his barbershop quartet to come and sing to me which was awesome!). If my Valentines Card idea turns out well there will no doubt be pictures. I usually always write 'Made for you by The Ugly Card Company' on the back of my cards as a safeguard - then no one can complain that they're ugly because I can say they're meant to be. But I always aim for them not to be, so fingers crossed.

*I really hate not putting accents on French words that need them (e.g. cafe) but I don't know how to do it, especially on Guy's MacBook, hence why they are missing.