B CR8~tive!

4Seasons marvel magic stripe acrylic from Spotlight....

easy to work with, although i would prefer it to be more sliky & softer yarn, as it's quite a scratchy acrylic....

but it makes a really nice looking patterned stripe....especially in the black/grey combo ~  :  )

....& you can never have too many scarves when in the baltics!

national craft month - spotlight  #craftmonth #makeityourself

....blink and you'll miss it!

that's how fast christmas comes around and then before you know it, it's the new year ~ :  )

and how different it was to be on the other side of the world....

Europe the northern hemisphere, dark, really short days (10am-3pm *a sort of daylight!), freezing cold, but no snow! 

....the white stuff (snow) surprised everyone, coming early in October then decided to go away and waited until after new year to grace us with it's presence again!

But it was festive, warm & cosy indoors and you could go nuts with the metallics gold & silver and anything that sparkles; because it is so dark, it doesn't look garish.

and being soooo cold, christmas food seems more yummy/comforting and so in context to the weather!

 ....I still love/prefer what I've grown-up with, ie. a summer christmas, celebrating with family & friends, long days, BBQs and bright colours and that awesome wind-down feeling that is so much part of it all.......in the southern hemisphere.

.... this too shall pass ~ : )

Moving house over Christmas/New Year is definitely not for the faint hearted...

It’s usually not a picnic, even for the well initiated, but moving in Dec/Jan brings the moving house thing to a whole new level of stress...

having said that when something has to be done, that can’t be put off...
the best way is to just suck it in and get on with it!

Thankfully we had time to have Christmas dinner, enjoy each other's company and give & open presents before the whirl wind of packing, decluttering, cleaning and moving to a new location...

 

So four months on...I now have time to reflect and get back to my happy crafting pursuits and since Mother’s Day is on the 8^th May, I am working towards two gifts for mum, a fotobook & a basic small quilt using English paper piecing, which I learnt back in the day at school ~ with my craft teacher Mrs Tyrill!

i'm always amazed at how skills you learn in your childhood and don't use for years will come back to you if you try them again, like swimming, riding, sewing etc..

 

Train up a child in the way he should go, And when he is old he will not depart from it. Proverbs 22:6

* bonjour sunshine!

....perhaps most consider knitting to be a cosy “winter sport”

but I think it's equally creative on a spring day sitting in our new

(replica) Acapulco chair on the deck enjoying ~le soleil!

enfin "The Big Chill" is over!

......winter in the southern hemisphere was really cold this year ~ so much for global warming!

 

the upside of having to hibernate was I started knitting after discovering Lions Brand – Thick & Quick yarn in their enticing redwood colour.

 

i had a go @ knitting a wrap for mum for Mother’s day and as she genuinely liked it, that encouraged me to go on a bit of a yarn adventure, borrowing knitting books from the library and checking out the wealth of info from blogs and online patterns.

....so nine scarves and half a knitted teddy bear later and Spring 2015 arrived early in September! *Hooray :  )

my favourite yarns to date for, Quality, Value for Money and  Ease of Use are:

* Lions Brand – Thick & Quick

* Panda – Soft Carnival

* 4 Seasons – Pure Wool

* 4 Seasons – Marvel
   Soft (Acrylic)

contemporary botanicals....

isn't it kind of ironic to have a public holiday titled "Labour Day", when it is in fact a public holiday ~ a day off from work....

anyway it gave us a chance to visit a Botanical garden, I should say a contemporary botanical garden, not one of those traditional ones with the exotic jungle plants, that to my taste I've always found creepy!

.....thanks to the Nikon COOLPIX L10 some happy snaps from a delightful day out!

the sunny season ~ in blanc et noir

      How could anyone not like summer?....
                some images from the lovely season, fotographed with the trusty Nikon COOLPIX L10 

 

* inspired by Jacques Tati - Le Vacances de M. Hulot