Slacker....

Yes I know I've been a total slacker...

 

I've been knitting, and making jelly and fussing over my chickens. I'll start with the first and most important update - What I've been knitting!

 

I warn you now, there's a lot to catch up on!

 

I started in December with these lovely Mitts as a test

I love how the cuffs fold down, you can keep your fingers warm when you aren't using them

 

Then an old school friend asked for a pair of mitts, so I made the Canella pattern again

 

My Dad asked for a beanie

What better hat to make for a man than one called "Man Thing?" 

 

Then onto socks, I needed something small to make at the beach while camping, something that wasn't going to be all mess and yarn everywhere 

 

My brother asked for a pair too!

I can't resist the men in my life when they ask for handknits

 

During the sock making, my Mum helped me out with the lace on my Lizzie cardigan

I could do everything but the lace. I just didn't get it!

Anyway, I finished this over summer and it was too hot to wear! Its more of an inbetween summer and spring or autumn item 

 

For Christmas, I joined the Vintage Purls Christmas Club

I really wanted to make whatever pattern came with the club and it was a lovely shawl called Heidrun 

The yarn is always a surprise, you don't know what colour has been sent until you open the package. I was super excited to see the most beautiful purple!

 

Do you remember the story of the three little cousins who I was making beanie's for?

The third cousin had his birthday in March and since he asked for a dark green beanie, I found a weird camo colour (boys like that right??) since I couldn't find an actual dark green in the right size.

I used the Graham pattern

It could be girls pattern, but the photos on the pattern page had boys and it has a boys name so I hope it was a winner, sadly its now May and I'm yet to hear if it was received.

I hope it wasn't lost in the post!!!

 

Then a workmate asked me if I could pretty please make her a pair of mitts. She had seen my green ones and fell in love with them

I will NEVER AGAIN USE BLACK YARN

I hated every part of making this. The yarn was horrible, the colour was hard to see and I kept dropping stitches.

Thank goodness I knew the pattern and that saved me. It really is an easy pattern

 

Next up, my niece was visiting and I let her rummage through my Tikki patterns and she chose a dress

A dress for an eight year old is no easy task! 

But it looks lovely and she loves it and thats all that matters

Now she wants a matching one for her sister.... oh dear...

 

Then I realised it was almost May and I was secretly scheming a pair of socks for a family friend who was moving from Perth to Whangarei

So I found something pretty, ordered some scrumptious Vintage Purls Sock and got to work

Thankfully, the owner of VP had some yellow stashed away which I was able to get my hands on 

 

After that my workmate who got the black mitts of doom asked for a matching beanie

I couldn't say no

I'm working on a matching beanie/scarf set for a child down in Southland in BRIGHT orange

I haven't finished that one yet so its a surprise

 

As always, there are more photos of my projects on Ravelry

 

xBecky

 

Fancy Dress at Work

Every year in December, my work has a dress up day.

 

99% of people go all out and dress up amazingly.

 

This year, rather than our usual team themes, we decided to to individual dress ups.

 

The theme, which I copied off someone who goes to my church is "A famous, film or fairytale character starting with the first letter of your name"

 

I debated about going as Betty White, I thought that way I can bring in my knitting!

 

Eventually, I decided that it was summer and I needed a summer costume.

 

So I started searching and found Bindi Irwin. I admire Bindi, she's such a great advocate for wildlife.

 

So a month ago I phone Australia Zoo and ordered a name badge, this week I dyed my shirt and I even borrowed my Dad's giant crocodile that he bought when he was in Australia about seven years ago.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In other great news, tomorrow I take my caravan out to the beach for three week away from technology and most importantly - work!

 

There's no mobile phone signal either. It's always the best time of the year.

 

See you in a month!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pirate Friday

Last Friday, my husband had his work 'end of year' function

 

This year they decided that everyone shoud dress as a pirate. Grrr!

 

So thats exactly what we did

 

I still had to go to my work in the morning, but at lunchtime I was able to leave and head to JJ's work to catch a ride with them

 

We headed out to the country, where some genius has created a fun park

 

Everyone decided that lunch must be eaten first so on went the BBQ and when it was time to turn them, well... someone forgot the tongs

 

Husband decided his pirate hook would be a fantastic substitue

 

We went on a flying fox, did archery and claybird shooting 

 

All while dressed as pirates... 

 

 

Next Friday is my work annual dress up day!

 

I'm not dressing as a pirate...

 

A Hair Cutting Ceremony

Last weekend, my nephew had his first haircut

 

He's six years old

 

Let me explain, in Cook Islands tradition little boys don't get their hair cut

 

When they do, they have a ceremony and a party

 

I made the invitations ages ago, here's what I put on them

 

"In Cook Islands tradition, the haircutting ceremony is a rite of passage for young boys. At these large gatherings the boy sits on a chair draped with tīvaevae (quilts). As his hair is cut, members of the community plaster the boy with money or other gifts. The custom serves to maintain reciprocal ties within the extended family and community.

A little bit about what happens at a Pakotianga Rauru or “Hair Cutting” ceremony:

A male representative for each family is called upon to approach the child and his mother will hand you the scissors to snip a strand of hair tied by a white ribbon.

Family members are then encouraged to keep the hair to remind them of the occasion.

Custom states that everyone making a cut contributes something; as one should never come empty-handed. Though it is entirely up to the individual, kin close to ego usually give both an envelope and a gift. The expectation is that their monetary contribution will help him in the future. Gift items are usually of the sort that the boy can use in his daily life or that others can use on his behalf, such as bed-quilts, sets of cups or glasses, appliances and clothing.

The gifts are signified by the family record book, which is usually bound by a ribbon after the event, and set aside for a     future time. When the boy approaches adulthood, he enters the stage of his life where he begins to act as an individual with respect to invitations and  events. For these, he will need reference to the record of those who previously accorded him assistance, so he can judge what obligations he needs to reciprocate.

Please note that this information is purely educational, we do not expect anyone to bring a gift.

After the hair is cut, there will be a few speeches and then dinner"

 

So that's what happened!

 

We turned up and straight away I grabbed my little namesake off someone for some photos

 

Isn't she adorable?

 

 

 

Then found my nephew all braided up and super excited to get a haircut!

 

He sat like this for at least an hour, waiting so patiently!!

 

 

In case your wondering, yes we removed the hood to cut his hair, but those photos turned out too blurry

 

One his hair was attacked by the many visitors, the hairdresser arrived to save the day!

 

Turning this:

 

 

and this:

 

 

Into this:

 

 

 

Isn't he handsome?

 

Of course big sister had to have a photo in her pretty dress too

 

 

and for the first time EVER, I managed to get a photo of my brother and his girlfriend

Hurray!

 

 

I'm so pleased to be able to take part in this once-in-a-lifetime event!

 

 

Photo Shoot

I love mittens

 

I HATE the cold

 

Those two statements merged this winter. I have now knitted three pairs of mittens

 

Husband thinks I'm crazy, until my cold hands meet his bare skin and then he remembers why I need them

 

Last week, I finished the most divine pair of mittens as a test for Katja from Woolly World Knits

 

I splurged out and bought some beautiful Touch Yarn

 

My LYS had some, so I chose a skein of Merino Random 4ply

 

The mittens have turned out sooooo well that when my workmate asked me to take photos of her latest Finished Object, I HAD to get her to take pics of my mittens

 

Of course there are only so many angles one can get photos of mittens.... but I'm happy with the results

 

 

 

Of course there were a few photos that didn't make the Ravelry cut...

 

 

Then there was one were I got a bit over enthusiastic and got stuck in the rose bush

Thorns are NOT cool

 

This photo ended up being my favourite

 

Naturally I'm now making wrist warmers - for when I need to use my fingers :-)

 

Make sure you check out the photos of Leisl's lovely cardi too

 

xBecky

 

 

Blog Series: What has Becky been up to?

Welcome to Part 1 of my first blog series!

 

In this series, I'll tell you what I've been up to on my weekends

 

Now that I have some time, I can catch you up on my adventures

 

At the end of October, NZ has a public holiday

 

Some family memebers wanted to take their caravans on a trip

 

We couldn't decide between going up North or going South

 

We eventually decided on Matarui Bay up north

 

 

Here's a photo story of what we did

 

We climbed a very steep hill to look at the Rainbow Warrior monument

 

 

Everyone else checked the map to see where the actual ship is

 

 

I took photos of people taking photos...

 

 

...and looking at the monument...

 

 

...and got photo bombed

 

 

So on the way down I took a picture of the beach

 

 

We spent the weekend driving around, playing baseball

(I destroyed two balls with my super awesome swing)

going for walks and generally not doing much

 

 

Racism

I know what you're thinking

 

Yes that is a strange blog title

 

Its something that happens every day in my household

 

And I have proof:

 

All the white ladies always sit on the left and the brown on the right

 

 

Here's my 'whitey's'

 

 

And my 'brownies'

 

 

I haven't given them proper names yet other than 'douchy mcdouche face', 'poo-bum' and 'oi stop trying to eat my feet!'

 

Whatever I name them, it'll be the same name for all of them

 

When I name pets, they die

 

My goldfish are a classic example

 

They have no name, they've stayed alive for well over a year now - yes I'm as shocked as you are!

 

Stayed tuned for my next post where I start my first blog series "What has Becky been up to?"

 

Its exciting stuff!

 

 

Springtime

You know what I learned last year?

 

How to work out Daylight Savings

 

Every year its always the same "do the clocks go forward or backwards an hour?"

 

I was told this little piece of common sense (not my usual forte) and now I always remember

"Spring Forward in Springtime"

 

So we move the clocks forward

 

That means when we are heading into Winter, we are going back an hour

 

Genius

 

I know

 

Since its Springtime, I have added a photo of one of my peach trees

 

This one is called 'Christina' and has amazingly deep red leaves one the blossoms disappear

 

 

In case your wondering, no I did not name all my trees... well, maybe some

 

No I'm kidding!

 

Some of the tree's had names on their tags so I try to just go by those

 

Yes, in case you were wondering, my husband does think I'm crazy...

 

The plum tree tag said 'Luisa' and another said 'Bert's Early' so its name Bert or was that Dan...?

 

One of the orange trees said 'Richard's Special'. My brother's name is Richard so its easy to remember

 

Don't get me started on Orion... its a super duper early peach tree and is already covered in teeny tiny fruit

 

Following up on my Orchard post two years ago, yes I have made a list of all my trees and even done a 'floor plan' of them so that I know who is who

I don't really need it except to check the finer details, like which of the four plum trees has the round plums that will be ready at Christmas

Mmmm plums...

 

Now speaking of Christmas and the approaching summer season, I'm getting my fitness on!

 

I know I'm a shocker and this is attempt #896825351 at getting fit

 

So I joined the gym

 

 Since I have to pay for it, it makes sense to actually go right?

 

So I've been going twice a week

So far I've only attended the the ab class and the weights class a few times each. I really enjoy going along to them and the instructors make it fun

(insert husband saying ' "fun and enjoy" are not appropriate words to describe that punishment')

 

Next week we start up playing Hockey again. We all know how last season turned out...

 

The goal: I should be able to at least lift my own scuba gear this summer!

 

Aaaannnddd since you know me only too well, here's a pic of my latest knitted creation

 

 

 

Its called the Voluminosa Cowl and I was super excited to be apart of the Knit-Along and a chance to win some amazing yarn I might not otherwise get to ever use

 

I was going to write that I have all my fingers and toes cross that I'll win the final prize in a few days time, but if I do I probably won't win so just note to yourself that I haven't 'actually' said that!

 

Next up, I'm testing another hat and some mittens

 

I spoiled myself and spent more than I usally would on yarn. I found this at my LYS hiding down on one of the bottom shelves 

 

 

Once I untangle it, I'm going to use it for the mitten test!

 

Hint to family: buy Becky a skein winder for Christmas....

 

Lots of love

 

xBecky

 

 

 

 

 

Special Delivery for a Special KAL

Look what arrived in the mail for me this week!

 

My new KnitPro Nova Metal Interchangeable circular set and a Symfonie Wood DPN set!

 

Eeek I'm so excited!!!!

 

 

The first project I'll be making with these lovely new toys is the Voluminosa Cowl by Katja Ottosson

 

I have my all my fingers and toes crossed hoping I win a prize in the Knit-A-Long (KAL) which starts on Sunday

 

I'll be using some lovely green/blue yarn that I purchased at my LYS just for this project.

It was perfect timing. Here I was at my LYS talking about needing 12ply yarn and the ladies at the store said that one of their suppliers missed printing one small thing on the labels of the yarn and had to discount it to clear it!

Yussss!

 

 

Its lambs wool and oh so lovely

 

 

Chicken Mansion

Here it is, the promised Chicken post

 

I've always loved chickens. They're clever, but really thick at the same time

 

They're amusing and cute

 

They follow me around and I love it!

 

When Husband and I bought a lifestyle property, I knew we would have chickens on it

 

Huband told me if I could find a coup design, he would build it

 

Everything I looked at was average. Then I found the one I wanted. It was tall enough for me to walk in and had enough space for 5-10 chickens

 

We planned to make it in a few years time but JJ's sister had to move house and needed somewhere for her chickens to move to.

 

We immediately got to work building the 'mansion'

 

We started with the foundations

 

 

Then put down the flooring and started the wall frames

 



 

Next we put on more framing and the roof trusses

(someone please tell me if thats not the right word so that I can fix it!)

 

 

Since it was raining, I didn't get a lot of shots, but here is the finished outside front

 

 

Ta-Dah!!!

 

 

When I open it up in the mornings, there is a welcoming sight!

 

 

Don't be fooled though, two of those white ones are fake

One of my crazy ladies decided its okay to lay her egg from the roost so I'm trying to encourage her to move into the nesting box

 

Every Saturday I give mine a good cleanout and fluff up their nesting boxes

 

Here's a pic of the hens all running away from me

 

 

 I have a million better shots but do you think I could find one?

 

 

 Edit to add: signing up with Meghan over at MNM's with Things I'm Loving

(and me, being me, can't figure out how to get the link to work...)