Creative Chaos

Creative Chaos

Wednesday 30 April 2014

A two week project

I started this Lady Kina two weeks ago in front of the tv. (I watch 4 hours of tv a week - Grand Designs, two CSI programmes and House Husbands and that is it!). Yesterday, 2 weeks to the day, I finished it. I am wearing it today. Love it! And love the button that I found in my stash which is the perfect colour! I may not have achieved much these holidays really, but I have made this. Pretty good for a 2 week project I think. This must have to be my most favourite wool colour ever too - a "4 seasons pure wool - 100% Australian wool in 8 ply." I dropped a needle size too. This is my second kina and I live in them over winter. (The last one I knitted was in 10ply.)
Now to carry on with that last essay...... (motivation is still not present much!)

Sunday 27 April 2014

Electric

Today we went into the city and took a ride on the first ever electric train bought in by Auckland Transport. I have children who are train fanatics. Two catch the train to and from school every day. Auckland Transport and the city council did a superb job of the promotion for 5000 lucky Aucklanders who snaffled up the free tickets. A yummy breakfast provided too. (appreciated to this hard hit by a 29.4% rates rise in two years - yes you read that right. We chose the entirely wrong time to renovate when the council was merging into one big super council from 5 or so old council areas... if you renovated you were whacked hard and the no more than 10% rates rise did not apply to you...)
I received the Travelling Linen Stash last Tuesday and dropped of off personally to the next recipient tonight - I hope she didn't mind. I was up the road from her house at Mitre 10 and can sometimes be slack getting to a post office. It was SO hard deciding what to keep and running around a few op shops to find a few more things to put in, but I love the 3 items I chose. Such a fab idea!
Look at my divine new hallway table - a Scandinavian one from Freedom. Love. Eyeing up a new dining room table and chair set and a couch too... we have not had new furniture for centuries and now that the kids are older and can show a bit more respect for nice furniture...
And I am loving the growing pile by the front door to drop off to an op shop. School holidays are good for this type of thing. I am really trying to be ruthless too!
Kimberley x

Thursday 24 April 2014

Sweet things on Thursday

I just dropped two at the movies... 100 metres from our house. I have heard good things about the Lego Movie, but have an essay to write... I need to get serious. sweet new things from kikki k - 50% off the tealight holder. And they now do tea in conjunction with T2. Yay. Gorgeous notecards.
A sweet buzzy bee stitch marker and the most divine sock wool - Meraki Studios is doing well from me lately! A sprinkle of gold through the pink wool too.
And I am loving the lady kina that I am knitting - would love to get if finished in the hols if possible... this must be one of my most favourite shades of wool ever. It goes perfectly with my cushion and chair too.
I hope everyone in New Zealand is having fab school holidays. The break has done me a world of good. Sign up to my dishcloth swap here.

Tuesday 22 April 2014

Scholastic Books Warehouse sale - Aucklanders - Public Notice Announcement

Scholastic Books warehouse sale
Lady Ruby Drive, East Tamaki
Tuesday/Wednesday/Thursday this week
9-3pm
Usually AMAZING.....
mornings usually have prams and toddlers (which drive me nuts...). go later in afternoon when little kids have gone home! :)

Monday 21 April 2014

Dishcloth swap

I have been knitting, knitting, knitting these past few days. Dishcloths, a Lady Kina for me, a pair of cable fingerless gloves, socks. Loving it. (Poor essay is being neglected and I am kinda a few weeks behind with uni study....BUT need a holiday!) I loved the dishcloth swap last year hosted by Leonie And OH MY - when my swap package arrived from Cat - huge swoon from me! Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous. And the dishwashing liquid really tickled me pink! Loved it!!!!! (finally discovered the maycee lollies at Pak'n'Save the other day too - yay! Good kiwi made lollies.)I discovered the amazing Sugar'n'creme cotton then too and have only used this gorgeous cotton since.
So I thought I'd host a dishcloth swap since I have a growing pile here....
Details: knit or crochet 2 dishcloths to exchange. Add another kitchen item (ie dish brush, tea towel, utensils, tea cosie, coasters etc etc).
Leave a comment below, plus send an e-mail to Kimberley@atkinson.org.nz by May 11 if interested in taking part (2 weeks from now.)
please state whether you would like New Zealand only or are willing to post internationally.
open worldwide.
I will post the swap details by Friday May 14.
Dishcloths to be in the post by June 15. >br> Any questions/comments, please let me know. happy knitting/crocheting!
Swoon- dishcloth swap.

Sunday 20 April 2014

Easter at our house

Quiet. Virtually no family in town do anything with. We did have Stephen's brother and family and mum here yesterday, but otherwise, nobody else lives near us. (Argentina/England/Switzerland and no chance of anyone ever coming back to live in New Zealand. If my kids were younger I'd be leaving too.......)
We did a gorgeous Jamie Oliver pulled lamb yesterday. Great left overs today, as well as salmon and cream cheese on bagels.
Easter decorations out and about. A bunny each and egg each. Rain all day - I do have eggs for a hunt, but that can wait till another finer day. Great rain. No chocolate for me - new clogs ordered on -line instead (www.lottafromstockholm.co.uk
) - thanks to Zara mentioning on her blog!
Games of lego chess. (not me - I do not have a brain for chess - it makes no sense at all to me.
Various knitting projects. A few going on at once and another pattern and wool ready to be started too.

Friday 18 April 2014

A Good Friday

School holidays! And, as is usual for me, I have spent it walking around in circles around the house. I always find it hard to relax on the first day/few days. I have dragged the scrapbooking out and knitted here and there and baked!
chocolate muffins (with Whitakers 72% Ghana chocolate) - the boys have declared these to be the best muffins ever.
Hot cross buns made by the husband - he makes them every Good Friday. They are soooo good and superior to supermarket ones!
And most weekends you will find home made bread rolls in the house too - these are snapped up very fast by the boys and it can be a case of "oi - put that back; that is my one." The mother needs at least one.
Have a good safe Easter weekend everyone. We have the remnants of a cyclone hit us yesterday - boy was the flooding spectacular in parts of Auckland. And the wind. Today it has been summer again - well, the temperatures are still around 24 degrees during the day. Humid today too. Down south it is a lot colder!

Wednesday 16 April 2014

Bunny love

I bought these gorgeous recycled blanket bunnies at a school gala a few weeks ago - love them! I am sure I could make some myself - have never made pompoms and have plenty of wool, so maybe it is something I should try these school holidays... They are for a niece and nephew, but might not make it as I think they are adorable...
one more sleep and it is the holidays. Quite, quite happy to have 2 weeks off work. very little planned apart from weeks of study to catch up on and write another essay due in a month...
These are the lovely retro icecream sundae glasses (I know there is another word for them - someone tell me. I am brain dead...), hundreds and thousands (sent as Taz
who organised the swap has a cool magazine called "Hundreds and Thousands") and yummy organic chocolate sauce that I received from Monique as part of the Vintage recipe swap. What a great gift! Fabulous idea. We now need to buy icecream - perfect treat for hols! The littlest has been putting chocolate sauce on his apple pieces - ha!
Any Easter traditions in your house?

Monday 14 April 2014

Vintage Recipe Swap

I joined in with a very cool vintage kitchen swap over at www.butterandbuntings.blogspot.co.nz I swapped with the lovely Monique (who has no blog.)My divine goodies arrived today. I will show you what she sent tomorrow as just realised that my camera battery needs to be recharged. But this is what I sent her -
I found the sweet plate at Crafternoon Tea in Kingsland - I don't frequent there too often as I find too many things I have to have and I really don't have to have them.... :).
A dishcloth (started knitting more this past week and have also found 2 new patterns - yay. Perfect timing for school hols). A favourite recipe using kumara and courgettes/zucchini. Tea and chocolate from New Zealand seem to be well appreciated overseas always. Love swaps - if anyone knows of any current ones happening - please let me know!

Saturday 12 April 2014

Today

in shorts and tee still | gorgeous summer weather still | lots of laundry done | tomatoes and beans pulled out and pots ready for more winter veges | Autumn leaves raked up | big spring clean in lounge areas and furniture moved around and de-cluttering | New bookcase ordered and looking at a Scandinavian style hallway table to buy | essay writing - deadline Monday. YIKES> Who knew you could write 2000 words on a picture book. Pedantic style of an academic essay and a new reference style to me (APA) doing my head in - once again. |

Thursday 10 April 2014

Out of the ark?

After just buying my middle child new tramping boots (size 10!) and a new swish Kathmandu school bag (which alone was my day's pay! - I have learnt not to buy cheap school bags but the one bought for $50 at the beginning of the year when it was half price is stuffed already...)- I ran into JB Hi-fi and bought some cds - I have not bought any for ages. I have 2 I-pods and of course a phone, but never use them for music (in fact I-pods have not been used for a loooong time!).
I am stoked that I have all 5 of the Thompson twin cds for $10 ! And 10,000 maniacs back catalogue for $10 too. And bought the new Neil Finn cd and a Neil Finn/Paul Kelly compilation - bit of a splurge. I listen to cds when driving to/from school. The husband just cracked up at me buying cds - he thinks I should just I-tune everything... but I love the real thing. (much like books and e-books...)Do you think cds are from the ark?
I made this sweet dishcloth over the past couple of nights - I wrote the pattern down from a blog, but I cannot remember which one now! Autumn is here BUT we have had such a humid past few days and I al still in summer sleeveless frocks.
>br> And yet another sock - a pair finished in 2 weeks.
The tomatoes are dead and the beans nearly too - we have been watering all the new winter veges, but figure the beans and tomatoes were near the end. We have had such a successful garden this summer. We now seriously need rain.
I have an essay to fine tune before Sunday night - still little motivation with this university paper - end of term at school is crazy and we have our old principal's funeral tomorrow. Virtually the entire staff is going - it will be hard.
I need the holidays...