Toasties.

Me and my big girl.

Its a fascinating, exciting and challenging thing to watch your first born grow up. To watch her push through developmental stages. To see what excites her, what challenges her, what inspires her and what upsets her. To celebrate her achievements and to struggle with her difficulties. To watch her slowly become who she is going to be.

Lately I've been watching her flit between wanting the independence and freedom of a teenager to being really childlike. I guess that's what being 10 is all about.

With her friends here for a few days over the weekend I watched her act too cool for school at times pushing boundaries and showing us and her sisters attitude and then other times she reverted back to being my baby needing cuddles when she fell over and hurt herself and thanking me profusely for feeding and looking after her and her friends.

I'm excited for her as her big wide world opens up gradually, but I am also mourning my baby, our first born.

When she asked me recently to knit her some arm warmers I was thrilled. I haven't turned into her embarrassing Mum who knits just yet. She and her particular style of dressing wanted me to make her something and let me tell you it has been a very long time since she's worn anything I've made.

I knitted the first one a few days ago and she wore it immediately.When the second one was looking too brown, I knitted it longer for myself. Then I knitted another long and one more short and we have two pairs. One for me and one for my girl.

We wont wear them at the same time, but I like that it still does kinda tie us together. We both have the same. Me and my girl.

It also felt quite emotional to be knitting with Japanese, Noro wool as the horrific events of the past few days unfolded. Our hearts and thoughts are with all those affected.

All toasty pattern details are here.

Maybe I'll have something else to talk about one of these days. I'm a bit obsessed at the moment.

Have a safe and happy week.

Love Kate X

freeze.

If its ok with you, I think I'd like to stop time here for a while.

I'm loving the ages my kids are at right now. The way our family works. We are sleeping through the night most nights, we can discuss anything and everything, we can go out for a coffee in a cafe, we can be silly, we are happy at home playing games and making stuff, we can go for walks around the place and everyone will walk, everyone still wants to hang out together and they are still happy for me to be the style police.

We've had little glimpses of the future in the past few months and I'm not ready.

There have been arguments about mobile phones, about hanging about in town unsupervised, about bed times and about what goes on at other peoples' houses and it terrifies me.

I'm not ready.

I don't know how.

I remember being that age where I was filled with a restless need for something big and wanted to challenge authority and be an individual. I have no idea how my parents parented me though it and I have no idea how I'll deal with it.

I'm not ready to give up being their bestie yet. I still want them to ask me if what they are wearing looks good, to tell me their secrets and to cuddle me and hold my hand.

I'm not ready to be the baddie. I don't want to be the law enforcer. I don't want them to pull away.

So if its ok with you, then we'll freeze things here and now.

If you are looking for us today, you'll find us at the craft table cutting and pasting. We'll be wearing daggy home clothes and listening and singing along loudly to music and maybe if you look carefully you'll see a funny dance move or two.

Have fun. Stay young and silly.

XX

Testing...testing...

Its probably a bit of a strange thing but I LOVE pattern testing!

I love it.

I hated tests at school, I hated my driving test and uni exams but pattern testing...love it!

I've been thinking about it quite a bit lately because recently I've been lucky enough to test a sewing pattern, two crochet patterns and a couple of knitting patterns.

I'm not sure if I love it so much because of the excitement of getting to work on a pattern only a few people have seen before, because I feel like its only a step away from the actual design process, because I like the interaction with the designer and sometimes the other testers or because in some cases I get something for free that other people will have to pay for.

Its probably a bit of all of the above.

I have seen pattern testing go a bit bad. I have been on testing forums where there are so many problems with the design. Where the designer has to constantly change the pattern to fix up the problems. Where other testers get cranky with how many times they have to rip back their knitting and start again. When testing times have been lengthened to accommodate all the issues and testers have sometimes dropped out.

Not me though, that's what the testing process is there for after all.

And most of the tests I have been involved in have finished happily ever after.

Miss Pepper is wearing The Bobolink test knit in these photos. It is a great little light weight knit with pockets. I love it as a t'shirt and I think it'll look great over a stripey long sleeved top in winter. And did I mention it has pockets!

When I asked the designer about a tunic length version she even explained how I should do it.

Have you ever tested a pattern or had a pattern of your own tested? Or maybe have you proof read or edited something? Did you enjoy it? Do you think you would? Do you understand my obsession?

So today I am grateful for pattern testing.

And I'm grateful for visits from friends we hadn't seen for about eight years, for drinking coffee outside cafes, for a house full of giggling girlies playing Twister, for pizza dough rising, for knitting, for health, for love.

I hope your weekend is all kinds of wonderful.

Love Kate X

Making me smile...

...a new haircut, a pile of old table cloths and a bag of bias binding scraps from the church fete, sunshine, love, giving somebody exactly what they have been looking for for ages...

...the most wonderful cushion as a surprise in the mail, (thank you so much Jenni, you have no idea how in love with her I am!) time to sew, the thought of how happy Indi will be when I tell her I've remembered to book her a haircut for this afternoon...

...three skeins of wool that Bren's parents bought me from a market just because, the sale of one of our Maremma puppies to a twelve year old boy setting up his own egg business, bargaining Indi down from seven girls to sleep over to three girls to sleep over...

...my Farmer Boy cutting a bucket full of my favourite food from just outside the front door, rocket and feta salad for lunch, a new crochet pattern to test...

...a new dress for my shop, finding out that every other child is allowed does not actually mean every other child is allowed, bumping into and chatting with lots of lovely girlies on a Friday morning, an email about a surprise pregnancy...

...other people knowing me so well and cutting the lace off their Mum's doona before chucking it out (thanks Rifka), long weekends, listening to the farmer boys chatting over their lunch in the other room, Miss Pepper promising me that she will never grow up and become a pre-teen...

...buzzy bees in the ballerina trees, our town being filled with rainbows for this weekend's ChillOut festival, lovely emails, Jazzy's new friend coming for a sleep over...

I hope your weekend brings with it so many things to smile about.

Love Kate XX

Creative stuff...

My creative space this week seems as scattered as my mind is. I am making all the time. Little bits here and little bits there. But I don't think I've completed anything for ages.

I am crocheting little colourful flowers to brighten up dresses on grey days like today.

I am sewing in pocket linings and darning in the ends of a gorgeous test knit for a designer in Colorado.

I am experimenting with layers of torn cotton, lace and other ruffly stuff.

I am cutting and over locking old table clothes for dresses and trying to make sure the see through bits happen in places where it is OK for see through bits to be.

And I am playing hide and seek with Miss Pepper.

Now I wonder where she could possibly be....

Peek-a-boo!!!!

Have a fabulous Thursday!

We are off to dancing class and then to a community garden opening where I am to be the official photographer. Cross your fingers for the rain to stay away.

See ya. XX

Purse.

Hey look I made a purse!

It was a test of Nikki's fab new pattern.

I think it was probably the first real structured thing I have ever sewn. It was such fun!

The pattern was easy peasy to follow and so exciting as it came together really quickly and looks so professional. The only problem I had was identifying all the different wadding, interfacing and villeins and then working out which side was the adhesive side of each, but that's just me and my inexperience.

The red floral fabric I used came from a church garage sale last year. I was the only customer there at the time and the ladies were fussing over me telling me that no one sews anymore and how excited they were to see the fabrics I bought walking down the street one day. It didn't take them long to recognise me as the girl who bought Tom and Lois's place. And then there was a whole discussion of what we are doing and what ever happened to them. I like small towns.

I've had a few practices to see how many of my necessities I can jam into my new purse and as you can see, I can fit a tape measure, my phone, some moisturiser/sun screen and my knitting. Its a big change from all the crap I usually carry around. I kinda like it.

My Farmer Boy thinks it looks like one of those old fashioned ice packs they had in the movies.

Carrying it makes me feel a bit fancy. Like I need to go to a garden party or something.

Funny that the only party I attended this weekend was a nine year old boy's. The activities were wooden spoon carving, Tarzan rope swinging, cross bow shooting, bush food foraging and bonfire lighting with flint. My girls had a ball. It was very different to the fairy, pop-star, make-up, cup cake type parties we have here but they got right into it. I left my new purse at home though.

I highly recommend Nikki's new purse pattern. If I can make it, you certainly can.

I do hope you've had a lovely weekend.

And I hope the week to come is fabulous.

See ya. XX

A morning...a winner...

This morning Farmer Bren wore his new hooded scarf to take the girls to school and to do his farm rounds. He said lots of people asked him about it and loved it. He told me the boys who work here with us said they were jealous and wanted me to make them one each as a staff uniform.

This morning Jazzy pulled out a notebook and a pen and started writing furiously. She wrote down every thought that fluttered through her mind and every word she heard spoken. She wrote and wrote and wrote and forgot to eat or brush her hair or get dressed. So I took the notebook and pen and popped them on a shelf for later on. She could have them back as soon as she was all ready to go to school. But by the time she was ready she had lost her rhythm. She was distraught. I'd ruined everything. She couldn't get back into it. She couldn't remember what to write. I feel terrible.

This morning Miss Pepper, thinking Jazzy was the coolest, got some pieces of paper, made Bren stick them together and me write 'Pepper's writing book' on the cover. She then sat down and started to fill it with her words. Its very important, she says and she has to take it every where she goes.

This morning Miss Indi said she was disappointed that swimming sports had been postponed until next week because it is freeeeeeezing here. She was so excited. She has entered herself in eight events even though you are only meant to compete in five.

Earlier in the week I had offered her to skip school on swimming sports day. I remember dreading that day when I was at school. That day when you have to compete with your classmates, stand around in your bathers and huff and puff up and down the pool. Not my kid. She looked at me like I was insane. She has been looking forward to the big day all year. She loves it.

This morning I asked the Random Number Generator to choose a random number between one and 138 and it chose number 50.

The fiftieth comment was Jo from Bubala!

Congratulations Jo! Send me your postal details and I'll pop your Hooded Scarf kit in the post.

For everyone else, thank you so much for your entries, I wish I had a kit to send to each of you. The lovely Anna of KnitKnit emailed me the with the same thought and would love to offer you a 10% discount off any purchase from her site. Mention my blog, Foxs Lane, in the checkout and she'll refund you the amount.

The details for my Hooded Scarf are Ravelled here.

Its now almost afternoon. I'd better get on with my day. I've got cooking and cleaning and a test pattern to sew up.

I hope your Friday is surprisingly wonderful.

Bye for now. XX