Ready to Sail.

A little boat on a wide and floral ocean.
Behind the scenes - not too bad.

Ship-wrecked on coral.

Hanging out at port.

A bit of rigging.

My biggest work-in-progress being Archie's jumper.

I would love to write a long, interesting and spectacularly funny post tonight but I think I am a bit sapped from the relentless humidity that seems to be tugging grass from the soil to the sky as we speak. Jonno is very happy to have grass growing for his cows at a time of year where paddocks are often brown. And I am too, however, having grown up in a country with dry heat, I find breathing in saturated air a little difficult. I hope I haven't caught myself complaining because this little bit of grass growth is amazing.

Have a nice night. I am off to knit Archie's other sleeve now. Wahoo (I mean it, that wasn't sarcasm).

Really, really good play dough.

First a splash of colour from around the house. Because I am now in the middle of knitting a jumper for Archie, I don't have huge amounts of home made things to show at the moment. Instead, a photo of my necklaces peeking out, enticing me to wear them.
Max and the rabbit person patiently waiting for me to attach their sail. Max seems to show his emotions more than the rabbity person.

And some violently red play dough waiting to be mixed with a bit of white. I think if the red ball was to be consumed by a mouse they would end up dead with seven extra ears.

The perfect colour combination for making a strap on laser gun.

Nothing worse than being bitten by your own creation. Archie bravely soldiered on.

This play dough recipe is the best version I have come across so far. No cooking involved and with the cake mixer, super fast. It is from an oldish cook book called 'Pahoia People, Bring a Plate'.

3 cups flour

4 table spoons oil

3 cups boiling water

2 cups salt

4 teaspoons cream of tartar.

I throw them all (apart from the food colouring) into my Kenwood cake mixer. When thoroughly mixed and play doughy, I remove 2/3 and add one food colouring to the dough. Remove when mixed and put in another 1/3. Add a different colour and so on until finished. Ridiculously easy. If children and adults need calming down, add essential oil.

Crochet Colour!!!!!

I crocheted this jug cover for my cousin's Christmas present back in December (you remember those really rushy last two weeks) and ran out of time to photograph it. So this morning when I was dropping Archie off at her house, I asked to borrow it for the day and took it home for a photo shoot. Of course towards the end, little hands crept into it, unable to resist the lure of all those beads. Hard not to smother those juicy hands with kisses, after a good wash of course...

Knitting With Stripes.

I'm on to the exciting part of the little kimono jumper using double pointed needles to make ties. It is so quick and easy that ropes seem to fall from my hands like magic, like Rumpelstiltskin spinning his straw into gold.
You might have noticed I mainly knit in stripes. Well, there are a couple of reasons for that. First, I get bored if I am only using one colour and then the other is that it is so much easier to count the rows. And I have boys, they seem to be made for stripes.
Sail making activities are now well under way. Last night I had a play around and am thrilled by how simple it was. Just knitting two together every three to four rows on one side gave it a sort of billowy triangle shape. Now I will have to start attaching it I suppose.
Archie and I finished reading the first Harry Potter book today. I have read it at least twice and loved it but, I have never enjoyed it as much as I have sharing it with Archie, listening to his giggles and gasps. So now someone has to always have a lightening bolt drawn on his forehead, just underneath his floppy blond hair. That very same person asked me if it would be okay to dye his hair black. I said no.

Boat Thoughts.

I'm still pretty tied up with Ann Wood's boats (check sidebar for her link). Well, with the sails and masts to be precise. The hulls are addictive but I think I am getting towards the stage where I should at least complete one. So now I am thinking that maybe knitted sails might be good, and cotton liberty sails with slots for the mast and bottom thingy to go into. Hugo's room had a much needed tidy up today (as did the bathroom - my chest now has more room to breathe) and I now think he could do with a few sail boats hanging from his ceiling.

Maureen (my lovely mother in law), if you are seeing this, here is a photo of your tomatoes which Archie and Jonno collected. Delicious and a very big thank you!!!

Odds and Ends.

I am now onto the sleeves of this little kimono style cardigan. I have made so many mistakes along the way just from being a little tired at night but it seems to have absorbed them with minimal scarring. Because I am really enjoying a bit of escape with the telly at night, knitting has been a great way to unwind as shamefully, I can still see the screen. Cheap and tawdry of me I know.

Tomorrow I am going to have a pocket of time to myself and I am trying to avoid the whole, must finish pile of paintings, must finish pile of sewing, should finish pile of washing. There is only so much that can be fitted into the time and I certainly don't want to drive myself into a tightly scheduled, spiralling insanity.

The boys have been playing with my acrylics and loving the colours that have suddenly become available to them. Just for a bit of a change, we have been experimenting with not mixing colours and ending up with a canvas of sludge brown. I felt like a bit of a nazi but it has been worth it as they are so proud of their paintings and how the colours sing out.

I think I might go and write a list of the things I would like to do and work out from there what is possible. No need to pile myself up with ridiculous expectations.

Until tomorrow xxooxxooxx.

Friends on the Weekend.

Friends who come with "Blueshi".

Friends who arrive and ignore the crafting mess and crafting table cloth.

And plums to fill us with summer sweetness.

Hope you had a good weekend.

xxooxxooxx