What I've been up to! Making, Baking and Creating!

Last week I was SUPER busy! We had a short week because of the holiday on Monday for Labour Day. This doesn't really affect me given that I don't work on a Monday! But it was nice to have my husband at home with us. So I didn't get much done that day as a result, being in weekend mode for an extra day!

(The view from my deck, last friday night)

My sister-in-law commissioned me to do some knitting for her friend who has just had a baby. Woohoo- my first commissioned work! I had this lovely wool sitting around for a while but was yet to use it as I've only been knitting boy baby stuff up until now. I wanted to try a new bootie pattern that was a little more advanced and more of a boot type, i.e. something that will stay on a tiny foot!

I did what any budding knitting does these days- googled "easy baby booties". I came across this pattern on Ravelry. It is a paid for pattern but I am really glad I got it as I'm really impressed with how the booties came out, for such a novice! The link to the pattern is here (you do have to be a member of Ravelry to buy & download the pattern). 

And here's the finished product:

Once I did the booties I knew I had to do a matching hat! I chose to go back to my favourite pattern which is this one. I just can't go past it, I find it so quick and easy to knit up, especially for a newborn size and on straight needles. (You can see other hats I've made with this pattern here) I had another go with the knotted top- the previous one I did was an epic fail! I knitted probably three times as many rows for this one and so it can actually be knitted now!

I am so proud of myself for this little set. I whipped in up in about two days I think, the quickest I've done anything so far! I think it looks really professional and so sweet for a new little girl! And I love the colour- just enough pink and purple to be girly, but not overpowering. 

 So of course once I did one hat, I got the bug again! I know of another friend who has recently had a baby boy, so I thought I would do a hat for him. Remember the first scarf I made (see here) with that neat waffle kind of pattern? I've been thinking for a little while that it would make a really awesome hat. So I used that style (I'm sure it has a proper name) to make a little hat. I finished the top in stockinette stitch, so I think it looks like a little acorn hat! What do you think?!

I REALLY loved that little acorn hat, so I wanted to make my son one too, so that's what I am working on at the moment!

By the way, if you are wondering why I am always using the same colour wool, it's because I had someone knit this cardigan for my son, and I had WAY too much wool leftover, so I am slowly but surely using it up! This is the little cardigan all finished here:

On thursday I spent the whole day cooking and baking. One of my cousins has had her little 6 year old boy Kody, in Starship Children's Hospital on and off battling an incurable illness called Alper's Syndrome. They returned home early last week, so I wanted to bring over some meals and baking. I just made super easy meals, a Chinese Rice Risotto Chow Mein (I made up the recipe for this) and a Gluten Free Pasta Bake. 

I also baked blueberry muffins, hokey pokey biscuits and double chocolate chip muffins (my old favourite!) All of these are perfect for freezing and then reheating when needed. It's always nice to bless someone in a practical way by doing meals. If there's one thing I can do to help people, it's cooking & baking!

(picture courtesy of Facebook)

If you are interested to know more about this situation, go to Kody's Journey Facebook page here, and the fundraising page here. The purpose of the fundraising is to help cover the cost of travel between Wellington and Auckland, and also help the family out with any extra costs like fun activities to do as a family. 

And finally, on Sunday I made Pumpkin Pie! I LOVE Pumpkin Pie! I was introduced to this recipe by an old work colleague who makes it quite often as a dessert. Of course, over here in New Zealand it's totally the wrong season to be making these types of things, but it's so delicious I think you can enjoy it all year round! Wish we had been carving pumpkins like we were this time 3 years ago in Long Island, New York! I'll do a separate post for this recipe, but here's a sneaky peek!