puppet community

Oma knitted these finger puppets for us when we were little kids. A bride, a groom, a bridesmaid, a school girl, a school boy, a baker, a grandma, a grandpa, a nanna, a mamma, a daddy, a teenager, a baby, a sailor, a swimming champion, a hunter, red riding hood, Sinterklass and Zwarte Piet. My favourites were always the bride and groom and Sinterklass and Zwarte Piet (Saint Nicholas and Black Pete. Sinterklass is a celebration on the 5th of December in Holland to celebrate the naming day of Saint Nicholas, patron saint of Amsterdam. It was such an exciting day for us as kids).

Mum kept the finger puppets in the attic all these years, and recently brought them back to life for our children to play with. I really appreciate now how much work went into making them and how beautiful they are. Made with the most intricate details, using tiny buttons, feathers, beads and embroidery.

cuddle blankets

When my sister was pregnant a couple of years ago I knitted this blanket for her baby boy. I think this was the first handmade thing I had made in years, and possibly what got me back into being creative. I also made one for Hannah when I was pregnant.

Little cousins and their blankies.

Ot en Sien

Ot en Sien (Otto and Francine) is a series of children's stories set in Drenthe in the early 1900's about the daily life of two Dutch children growing up next door to each other. The stories written by Hendricus Scheepstra are inspired by Jan Ligthart's idea of showing young people what was considered a "healthy daily family life". The stories however, portray an idealistic version of what life was considered it should have been, rather than the impoverished provence Drenthe actually was. During the first part of the twentieth century, the stories of Ot en Sien were extremely influential in elementary school education as a teaching tool for reading. Generations of children in The Netherlands have grown up with the stories of Ot en Sien.

When Mum emigrated to Australia she brought these hand sculpted clay figurines and a book illustrated by Cornelis Jetses. They are something I have strong memories of playing with as a child. Ot en Sien are a definite reminder of childhood.

new shoes

Crocheted Slippers... warm toes. I think she will grow out of them very soon though... will have to start making a larger pair.

chocolate raspberry cupcakes

Totally decadent and not good for you at all, but so incredibly yummy. I've made these cupcakes a few times now, but only for special occasions. I don't think I could ever go past the combination of dark chocolate and raspberries.

Ingredients :
400g Dark Chocolate
400g Raspberries (or a mix of different berries if you can't get hold of enough raspberries)
240g Butter
3/4 cup or 1 cup Sugar (depending on your sweet tooth)
1 cup Plain Flour
3 Tbspn Self Raising Flour
4 Tbspn Cocoa Powder
2 Eggs

Method :
1. Melt chocolate, butter, raspberries and sugar in a heavy bottomed saucepan on a very low heat. Stir constantly until just melted. Do not allow it to get too hot otherwise the chocolate will burn and become lumpy. It should become a syrupy jam.
2. Allow to cool slightly.
3. Sift flours and cocoa powder.
4. Mix eggs, and melted chocolate raspberry mix into the flour. Add a tiny bit of milk if the mix is too dry.
5. Pour into paper cupcake pans. They will only rise slightly, fill to approx 3/4 full.
6. Bake in the over at 170 deg C for 45 min. Check at around 40min, as you don't want them to become dry. They are yummiest when a bit gooey inside.
7. Serve them warm with cream or icecream and fresh berries.

hannah's quilt

I made this quilt for Hannah when I was still pregnant. My first finished attempt at making one. I used the same fabric I used to decorate her bedroom, a cotton/bamboo wadding and a fleecy cotton for the backing. She is big enough and it is cold enough for her to start using it now.

winter nest

I've been wanting to make new cushions for the couch for a long time. So while watching the Australia/Ghana World Cup game I made them. I found this beautiful hand printed fabric from Australian textiles designer Kristen Doran.

felt slippers

I found the cutest pattern for crochet felted slippers and they reminded me of Mariska. So I had to make them for her. I had no idea how they would turn out. When I finished crocheting them, they seemed so huge, about twice the size they should have been. I crocheted a little sample piece and felted it by hand in a bowl of hot water. It seemed to work ok, so I thought if I put the slippers in a pot of hot water on the stove they should shrink and felt. After an hour standing stirring the pot they were only a fraction smaller and hardly felted at all. I could still see all the crochet stitches. So I stuck them in the washing machine on the hottest program for an hour. A little scary. It brought back memories of when I put my Dad's woollen scarf in the wash when I was a teenager. When I took the slippers out of the machine I had that same feeling of oh no I shrank them! But this time it was a good thing. They were the perfect size, and better than I thought they would turn out. The perfect birthday pressie for a sister with a winter birthday.

wintery warmth

Winter has definitely started. A wet and rainy week and everything needs a little bit of warmth.

knitted railing

woolly bmx

VW

tree scarf

knit the city: phone box cosy


knitted bus

flowers and granny's

I'm gradually getting the hang of this! I've been looking through a crochet book I've had for a while now, and watching tutorials on YouTube trying to teach myself how, but with quite a few failure. So I started going along to a craft group at my Nanna's retirement village. There is no better way to learn than sitting around a table with a combined 400 years experience in crocheting and knitting. These are my first attempts. I'm hoping to crochet a blanket for our bedroom made up from flowery granny squares.