TropicalSoup

 

A little butterfly art for a new wee friend's birthday party. I love these Martha Stewart punches, and I confess that several birthday presents have been made with them - I feel a little guilty about that, but then I remember how excited Immy is to be making this, and I figure if she adores the finished product, the recipient should too, right? Besides, having a 5 year old responsible for making a gift for her friend? That's pretty priceless!

Thank goodness the punches were still in my chest of drawers in the studio, and therefore required no box-emptying to find. The stash of paper that I know I have, on the other hand, well, let's just say when faced with the task of finding a small bundle of paper amongst my masses of boxes...I went and found a little paper pack of clearance!

My Creative Space...writing with thread

I'm very aware that this blog has been very family-and-kids, and precious little stitch-porn lately. Sorry about that - it's a bit of a reflection on reality frankly, and probably won't change much until we get some bookcases for the new studio to house all the detritus and crap terribly important supplies thay used to live in the old studio's wardrobe. Hopefully, we'll have that organised in the next 3 weeks (IKEA!)...in the meantime I've been steadfastly refusing to unpack *any* of the studio, since lord knows where I'd put it and I have a funny feeling it would just end up being one diabolical mess, especially since there is so much of it and none of the boxes are actually labelled with their contents! (But...being cut off from my stuff is making me cranky, so maybe I should make a start?)

Anywaaaayyyyy.....I have this piece in progress at the moment, so there is a little stitching going on after all. It's for a friend, and I'm not sure if she reads my blog so I'm loathe to share the whole thing in case I accidentally spoil the surprise! I wish I could though...would love your opinions on how to finish it off - it's a funny, slightly off-colour (you should know me by now!) quote. If I can drag myself away from Pinterest of an evening, I should be able to share the finished project here very soon!

 

(I'm joining in with Our Creative Spaces)

Reunited...and it feels so good*

So Cookie and Mahe survived their second plane ride, as well as all the attendant waiting around in a cage in a big warehouse filled with forklifts, and we all survived the constant miaowing on the 2+ hour drive back home from Sydney airport yesterday. (Nobody was made into half a pair of furry slippers, is all I'm saying. Looking at you, miss cookie!)

After 11 weeks cooped up in a cage, our slinky malinkies are bit more chubby furball, which I'm sure will change now that they have space to run around again, but for the first time they look like grown cats rather than slinky kittens.

 

 

And now everyone is home, the cats are enjoying being outside and free again for the first time in 11 weeks, and Cole and Imogen are genuinely trying not to suffocate the felines with love. Trying. Very different to succeeding! Thank goodness Cookie and Mahe are as tolerant as ever...and just between you and me, I think they're rather enjoying being the centre of attention again!

 

*Fear not, for I have a whole host of cheesy song lyrics memorised for all time, and I'm happy to share and get them stuck in your head, too. You're welcome!

 

The Final Countdown...

(do you read the title and start singing the song? Me too - children of the 80's unite!

Erm....can I be a child of the 80's if I was born in the late-ish 70's?)

(useless photo of the actual artwork, but check out the pride. Awww!)

In *5 more sleeps* we get to drive down to Sydney airport and collect our beloved furries, Cookie and Mahe. It will have been a total of 79 days since we last saw them, and everyone's looking forward to the reunion. I hate that it's taken us this long, but let's just say the budget is pretty tight just now (moving = hemmorrhaging money!)

 

Coley and Immy are so excited to have their beloved cats again, and I was excited to be able to tell them  the air tickets were finally booked - we've all missed having those loving little fluffballs around! A little after this announcement, the kids came out with these - completely of their own accord (though I wish I'd thought of it!) They're countdown calendars for until we get to pick up the cats. How sweet is that!?!

I love that each piece is a reflection of their aesthetic, and personality, and doubly so that Cole has suddenly decided in the last month that he really likes drawing and writing as well. Woot!  

(Although Immy's not always so thrilled that she needs to share the art supplies now, lol!)

Sometimes I'm a little backwards...

This is a cowl after I cast off on the weekend:

 

and this is that same cowl this afternoon:

 

What can I say? I saw this pattern a while ago for a scrappy scarf knit lengthwise, and the stitch stuck in my brain. I thought it might be nice to try with this lovely ball of merino that just happened to come home with me one day just before we left NZ. And, since  I am equal parts lazy and cunning, I adjusted the stitch so I could knit it on circular needles, and changed the pattern to a cowl-like thingummy (are you overwhelmed by the technical jargon yet?)

The pattern's intended for oddments of yarn, but the merino I had on hand has really long colour changes which I was hoping would mimic a similar effect. The good news - it did - and it turned out very cute. The bad news - I could have sworn I had had 2 of these balls accompany me home, but nope, it was just the one and only (I did swear at this point) and the dimensions of the cowl were just just all wrong with only the one ball. I seriously considered leaving it as is and ordering another ball but I think that was just dooming the project immediately to the lost UFO pile. So here it sits, waiting for inspiration to strike. I have a few beginnings of ideas of what to use it for, but do you have any suggestions?

Dear World,

 

My kids are kids. Happy, vivacious, energetic, clever, inquisitive, imaginative, creative kids. They like to play and to learn and to read and discover and talk and sing and dance and run and jump and ride and build and live. Both of them. They like to dress up and have their nails painted and play cars and compare scabs from all the falls off racing down that hill so very fast. Both of them. They like to cook and wear aprons and play their ukeleles and harmonicas so loudly it makes their mama's ears bleed. And they love to help dad with fixing the mechanics on the bicycles and get unbelievably dirty and jump in puddles and roll down hills and give dancing recitals for their parents. Both of them. And that's okay, because they *should* be able to be themselves and they *should* be able to explore and enjoy whatever it is they wish to explore and enjoy. Because a colour is just a colour and stereotypes are just silly. And who are we to stand in the way of their awe and wonder?

So stop being a prick and commenting about my son's sparkly fingernails, or making derogatory facial expressions when your hear he does tap dancing and has a baby doll that he cherishes. It's okay that he loves these things  and it's okay that he loves trucks and legos and dirt, too. Don't make my daughter think that it's not acceptable for her to wear an outfit that isn't head to toe pink, or one that is. Or that there's something inherently dysfunctional about her love for ballet and earthmoving equipment.

Backoff and let them be kids, or I will go so ninja on your arse you won't even see the knitting needles coming.

Signed, mama bear.

As for me and my family, we shall worship the Men in Black

(Us watching the opening ceremony en famille last night. And those little size premmie All Black suits the baby dolls are wearing - were once worn by 3  month old Cole and Imogen. sob)

The Rugby World Cup is officially underway, and if you know D at all you'll know that saying he is rugby mad is a little like saying he doesn't mind the occasional cup of coffee. It is all on here. I'm not a huge rugby fan per se, but even I am a little excited about this cup, and especially for the opportunity for the all Blacks to hold up a bit of kitchenware on home turf!

We watched the opening ceremony together as a family last night which was lovely - and brought out a bit of homesickness from me - I'm incredibly proud of NZ's cultural heritage, and it was lovely to see a little on display. As much as we are loving Australia, and happy and proud to call this our new home, there is no doubt on which side of the divide our allegiances fall when it comes to rugby right now...though Cole and Immy suggested that they might like to shout for the yellow team (the Wallabies) since we are in Australia now and therefore should support them. The good thing to come out of that - I know *exactly* what D looks like right before he's about to have a heart attack, lol!

 

Nearly back...

...I am. nearly.