Pigeon

For the Easter long weekend. Gorgeous Man, Gorgeous Girl and I travelled to the Highlands of Papua New Guinea for a short break from the heat and humidity of Port Moresby.

It was very cold and I enjoyed it tremendously. We didn’t do a great deal as it rained quite frequently while we were there, but it was nice to relax, catch up on some reading, play card games and spend time together.

Gorgeous Man and Gorgeous Girl got up early one morning to do a bird-watching trip. I also spotted a rare bird while walking the grounds…

Just sitting quietly on a stump minding his own business.

In all seriousness though, we did see some fabulous native birds. There was the tiger parrot.

The lodge puts out fruit which attracts the birds and you can then watch from the balcony of the main building.

This is one of the birds of paradise.

Love the long tail on him.

We took a walk around the grounds and Gorgeous Girl borrowed my camera to take pictures of ever flower she saw. That was her stated aim… There were lots of really interesting flowers around and she got some really nice photos.

But don’t fret, I’m not going to show you all of them.

 

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A small gift

Last year Gorgeous Girl asked if I would make the birthday present for her best friend. We looked through Ravelry together and decided on the following patttern: Tiny Long-legged Cat.

I used yarn that Gorgeous Girl and I had dyed earlier in the year. This yarn was found in an opshop (thrift store) and was truly horrible to work with. Very rough and scratchy, at the completion of the project Gorgeous Girl was given the remaining yarn to play use as she saw fit (this has resulted in yarn mazes around the house and yard).

According to Gorgeous Girl this cat with attitude was a big hit at the party.

Gorgeous Girl’s friend has now relocated back to Australia, but the girls are keeping up with each other through weekly skype video calls. I’m so thankful for technology that allows the tyranny of distance to be defeated.

 

 

 

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Teacher gifts

The end of the year was, as previously mentioned, a bit frantic but I did want to make something personal to tuck into the gifts for Gorgeous Girl’s teachers this year. In the end I settled on making some crocheted bookmarks. This Radiant Rose bookmark was crocheted out of handspun. You can find the pattern here.

I hot glued the rose to a large paperclip.

The second bookmark I made was a bird. I really loved how this turned out, it was lots of fun. Pattern can be found here.

This was made from sock yarn scraps. Many moons ago I made Gorgeous Girl a cardigan from this yarn and there’s still yarn left over. She liked the bird so much she asked for one of her own. I don’t have a picture of that one though.

I like the bird so much that I think when I get back to Papua New Guinea I’m going to make myself one.

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Giant snails

I found some giant snails wandering in our garden.

I was able to sneak up and get some close-ups.

Knitted with yarn I spun using roving from Nurturing Fibres.

Pattern available here on Ravelry and here for non-Ravelry users.

They now live on my bookshelf.

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Snails

I found some snails hanging out on the kitchen table.

I love how they have turned out.

One for Gorgeous Girl and one for her friend.

Purple is handspun. Pattern can be found here.

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A visitor

Recently Gorgeous Girl and I heard a strange noise under the house. We went down and found this little guy perched on the wall.

Then he hopped down to explore the orchids.

After exploring our orchid area this little kiwi bird went to live with one of Gorgeous Girl’s little friends who had a birthday recently. You can find pattern details here.

I’m really pleased with how he turned out.

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Another grey hippo

I’m making another grey hippo. It’s nearly finished.

Then it will sit in a cloth bag for a few months until I go to Australia and post it to The Calico Cat. I hope she likes him. I’m kind of charmed by the colour combo.

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A thank you gift

I tried very hard to get this little fellow finished before I left Australia, but it didn’t happen. She’s a thank you present for the relatives who let me stay with them during my long visa wait.

I’m glad she had to come home to be finished because it means that she could meet her siblings.

Blue is 8ply cotton done with a 4 mm hook, Pink is the same cotton made with a 2.5 mm hook, White is a 4 ply cotton/acrylic blend made with a 1.75 mm hook.

Would you believe I’ve started making the flowers for a 5th one of these? After that I’m going to just knit for a while.

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Happy Hippy Hippo

I made this little lady for a friend of mine and she’ll be heading off in the post tomorrow. I’m really pleased with how this one turned out. It’s a little smaller than the other two, but they are both in PNG, so no comparison shots.

Look at that face…

These are such clever designs. I have two more of these to make: one a thank you gift and one a commission. As much as I love this design I’m itching to knit and do something else. It’s very unusual for me to repeat a pattern so often and in such a short time-frame.

My visa process is one step closer to being finalised, so a few more weeks in Australia and then I should be able to head back to PNG. In the meantime Gorgeous Girl has lost two teeth and started a new school and we are all missing each other.

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Keeping Calm

Today I did something that I’ve been working towards for the last few  years. I submitted the thesis. Now I get to wait for a bit while the examiners read and evaluate it. I’m not celebrating just yet. In fact immediately after hitting the upload button on my computer (everything is electronic) I felt kind of ill. So I did what any self-respecting lover of yarn would do and picked up some yarny goodness to calm the nerves.

Behold: Hippo has a butt.

Colour is more accurate in this picture.

I’m trying to get this finished before I head back to PNG as it will need to go across Australia in the post to live with a friend of mine. I’m still waiting for work permits and visas to be processed…

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