Promise kept!

As promised, here is one of the shots I took of my darling little man in the snow, wearing his new hat, scarf and mitten set I made him (and stitched up the hat in teh car on the 8hr drive to Kyabram VIC). The hat is a tad too big, as I made the large after the medium didn't quite have enough coverage, and I never had a chance to block it so the front rolls up a bit in the photo. The mittens are hiding, underneath the waterproof set for playing in the snow, but he wore them visibly when we went out to dinner and there was no chance he was going to get them wet and cold. The good thing is that in the set, only the mittens will be too small for him next year, and thank goodness for bendigo wools coming on massive 200gm balls - there's still plenty left for me to make him another set for next year. DH wants me to sell this years set on ebay, but for now I am keeping them, they are so small and cute!

And here's a close-up of the scarf and hat:




Bugga! looks like he's already pulled a thread in that hat, I will have to try and fix it when I finally get around to blocking it now that we're home. Unfortunately it took a photo to point it out.


And a rough and ready shot of the trousers I made him (the ones I dubbed "rave pants"). Rough because he won't stand still enough to get a good shot! Wish I'd snapped him wearing them the day we arrived at Falls Creek - he was a bit apprehensive about walking in the snow, so was nice and still for me, just like the good old days when he couldn't walk... I mean, run away. My little monster! The pattern called for buttons and buttonholes on the instructions, and while I'm not afraid of buttonholes (thanks Janome - I love the one step buttonhole!) I decided the snap press would come in handy here, as it means the pockets are easier for Austy to open and close, just perfect for stashing little cars and things - every little boy's dream!



I also stitched him up a pair of stirrup pants to go under his pants to keep his legs warm as his pants often ride up when we pick him up, leaving his legs bare. They are nothing special, just a beige knit fabric I had in my stash and not really worthy of photographing, but I was glad to have them, especially when I saw a Dad holding his 1yr old out in the snow and his pants did the same thing (no snowsuit on) leaving icy legs on the poor little boy. Unfortunately the trackies are still unmade, I had every intention of doing them in time for the snow, but with both Austy and I getting sick there was no chance.

And finally, I couldn't help myself but to make a start on my disappearing nine-patch swap quilt (sorry - another bad photo taken at night on my very cluttered sewing desk). The swap squares started rolling in and I had to start playing! I have added to them with a couple of recent purchases from quilt fabric delights and the fat quarter shop, and am now addicted to these beautiful fabric sites! My favourite of all the prints I picked up has to be the Amy Butler Belle print with the deep chocolate background and aqua splodges. Nice technical term I know, but the Amy Butler fans will be sure to pick it - there is only one Amy piece in that lot. I also love the Manzanita squares that came from a jolly pack I couldn't help but purchase at the fat quarter shop! I am a bit apprehensive about chopping these up to make them disappearing yet, I'm scared I'll stuff it up! But a good press first and some dutch courage and it will be well worth it. Check out Helen's D9P quilt that inspired all us EB quilters (can I call myself a quilter after only 2 small quilts?).

And on non-crafting news, I just HAD to share. This afternoon during snack time Austy started asking me to "have Austy's baby sister?". Too cute. I gently reminded him that it was his friend James that has a baby sister, not him, but Austy's Dad told him we'd see what we could do, but we need to find that house first! Then again, when I put him to bed he told me we were going to see his baby sister tomorrow... hmm... I think we need to teach him that these things take time, and what would he think if we gave him a baby brother instead?