What I HAVE been doing

So I haven't done much lately but I have done a few things.  Other than digging out the four year old knitting poncho, and washing/ironing coffee fabrics.

The other weekend I decided to get stuck into my "unfinished projects basket".  This is just the small things which didn't need much work to complete but I just never got around to, as opposed to be box of UFO's in the sewing room.

In 2008 for Christmas I was given the book Amigurumi Animals and all the bits to make one of the toys (although the giver was unable to find mohair at the time so it's just bamboo cotton).  I started crocheting it on the day but then once we returned home from the trip (Christmas was in the 'country' that year) it got put aside for all the other projects that had a specific purpose.  Last month I decided I'd just better get on and finish it, so here it is.

The overlocker real behind him is included for scale as wel as support, so you can see how pathetic it is that he took me over a year to complete!

Years before I'd even learnt to crochet, I was still trying to learn to knit.  My grandmother had taught me how to do the knit and purl stitches but I'd never really done anything great with it other than scarves.  When I was a teenager (and after my grandmother had passed away) I decided it was high time I learnt how to do proper shaping, and sewing things together etc.  I decided to do some dolls clothes, nice small project that wasn't too daunting, but still had all the aspects of a full size garment.  The pattern came from all the books I'd got when my nanna passed away, and the wool was mostly left overs from her stash.  So here is the finished project

It's quite possibly the longest unfinished project I've had since it date back to living in Sydney which makes it at least 10 1/2 years ago I started.  Not will to say it IS the oldest though, because I'm not quite sure what is lurking in the boxes in my sewing room.   It's not designed for the doll who is wearing it but she was the closest size I had.  I think it was originally made to fit a doll back in Sydney, so will be sending them home with my mother next time for my neice to play with.

Then onto a new project, rather than a unfinished project, that I actually finished in early Feb but couldn't post about till I had given it to person I made it for (not that he reads this blog to my knowledge).

When ordering the kit for my NZ Fern Bag I saw the pattern for their Kiwi Bird.  I decided I wanted to  make it for my friend, whom I met shortly after he immigrated about 5 years ago.  He is all goth, and has purple/bluish hair, so I planned to make the bird out of the black Moko fabric, and add a tuft of purple hair to it.  Here is the result

So it's a purple haired kiwi for my purple haired Kiwi ;)  And he loved it, specially the effect given by the purple fabric I chose, which in real life gives it a bit of an effect similar to how his hair actually looks!

I have some other fabrics from Kiwi Quilts as well, so there might be a few projects showing up.... eventually... ;)