Eva is 2

She woke to a room full of balloons...

and after unwrapping her presents it was party time


My little poppet is a Peppa Pig fiend, so I made up a bunch of party decorations including the invitation, party banner, food labels and thank you tags with Peppa on them.

We decided on a morning tea so I planned on food I could make in advance which worked out lovely as we got to spend all morning with our guests and my baby.

Happy birthday to our gorgeous little one.

Cake Pops made with this set from BigW, then coated in Merckens pink candy coating and a white candy writer
Strawberry Tarts creme patisserie recipe
Date and Coconut balls
Rice Krispy treats recipe
Shortbread recipe
and popcorn

Perfect kiddie food and all can be made in advance.

Oh and while I AM posting... I can't ignore the old faithful Google Reader is closing soon, so I'm trying out Bloglovin

Balloons for FJ

Evangeline's best (only) friend FJ turned 2 today. We picked her up an awesome pair of flamingo gumboots but I thought I would make a little something else to go in her present.

Baby Basic Hat

A tiny little newborn knit in Debbie Bliss Cashmerino DK for a lovely lady who I have met through blogging who's little girl made an early appearance a couple of weeks ago. I love the quick knits of making things for newborns. Just one evening on the lounge and all finished.

Ravlery link

Meanwhile, this delicious Luxury 8 ply from Bendigo in Bracken is quickly becoming my first Granny's Favourite... another pattern I had been stalking Ravelry for it's release to the public from the Milo Queen Georgie Hallam.

Isabella picked out the green and it's such a lovely shade. The body is all finished now, and it's on to the sleeves which she has asked for full length, so a few more nights of knitting.

PS. If you quickly head over to Ravelry, you'll see the Kina I finished for Bella as one of the featured pictures for the pattern... awesome!

Roller Skate Dress + Kina

I may have been stalking the Oliver & S blog, Facebook and website just a little over the last few days, waiting for the Roller Skate dress to be released.

Last week catching up with a dear friend, she told me a how her almost-8-year old wanted a new dress and she had come to her so sweetly wondering if Lisa would make her one. Pffft like I need to be asked twice! So I finished Bella's first to check the fit and next up, another in a pretty navy with white birds. The fabric I made Bella's in is a cotton from Spotlight, isn't it pretty?

True to Oliver & S patterns, the dress is designed to be beautifully finished, fully lined, but also this is definitely the easiest and quickest O+S pattern I have ever done... and I have done a few. So much so it didn't really "feel" like an O+S pattern because it didn't have those real details that normally comes with their patterns and the time it normally takes to construct them.

The pattern comes with only 2 pieces, front and back, and then a small rectangle for the button loop. The sizing is spot on (this was a size 7 with a touch longer length for Miss 7.5) and I was able to sew it up in just over an hour last night. I finished my seams with the overlocker and note if you cut the lining the same length as the outer fabric instead of the 1/2 inch shorter in the pattern, then it would be reversible.

I also finished off my first Kina in a Debbie Bliss EcoBaby Cotton in a lovely lovely Navy earlier in the week, and it even has a button on it already. I cast on the size 6 but knit the size 8 length for my slight girl. It is a little loose on the shoulders, but looking at all the other projects on Ravelry they are the same too.
I scored with the Debbie Bliss Ecobaby on eBay and snapped up a 10 ball pack for the price of 3 balls here in Australia. With quite a few balls left over my Mum has now snuck off with some and a copy of the Kina pattern to knit one for Eva while I work on a Granny's Favourite for Bella in long sleeves for the colder months. Only the sleeves to go and then it will be ready to wear.

Ravelry link