Summer Days on the Beach....

Today is a glorious summer's day ! It started out for me with a series of comedic events though... I slept like a log, dreaming wonderful dreams, happy and content, when, intruding rudely into my blissful state, were screeching sounds and slamming drawer noises, which didn't fit into the context of what was passing through my mind....suffice to say that my husband dearest had a moment of inspiration at the crack of dawn, and urgently seeking both paper and pen, started searching frantically all over the bedroom. Once he had found the aforesaid items, he incorrectly tried to open the shutters that we have , leading to the deck of our room, resulting in screeching sounds as the aluminium bits grated against each other... as you can imagine, the face he was presented with when I dragged myself from paradise, was not one of love and compassion. I did not make him coffee.
When Gerry and the girls went to the beach I cleaned up the house for a while. The area where we live is surrounded by a wonderful lush coastal vegetation , where deer walk freely and nature is undisturbed. One of the undisturbed flew into the house and tried to land on my hair. I was busy folding washing, when a loud buzzing , grating noise came straight at me and settled on my head. Well....all I can say is that the neighbours must have though I was being attacked by rabid aliens...I went completely a*e s**t, yanking at my hair and swatting wildly with my washing. I have very long hair and the thought of a huge insect getting stuck in it was just a bit too much to bear! I was so shaken, that by the time I managed to dislodge the offender (a massive clawed beetle of God only knows what genus) and violently turf it back into the bush, I seriously considered a 9am martini....No, don't lie...you would have too! The day surely had to get better....

So....with my psyche seriously unbalanced and without really planning, I found myself walking to the beach, having grabbed a beach chair and umbrella on the way out of the door. Arriving at the spot where the kids and friends were, I realized that the umbrella top and the bottom pole were from different sets, and that my umbrella was not going to be plantable unless I managed to Houdini myself into a flat pretzel. Spending so much time in the hospital away from natural sunshine, has made my pale skin as susceptible to burning as a vampire's, so this situation was not a good one....five minutes in the sun, and I get blisters! Gerry eventually rigged a workable solution using a towel and some ingenuity, and finally I had a moment to recover from my ordeals... The sun was shining, the sky was clear, the breeze gentle and cooling, and the ocean beautiful! It goes a long way to restoring the soul, I tell you!

My Nani and Gerry were playing with a funny ring-like frisbee and I managed to snap some pics of them. Of course, ever the joker, Nani acted as if she were an angel, placing the frisbee thing on her head like a halo each time she caught it :)

I have yet to venture into the ocean...I intensely dislike cold water and today the sea was especially cold...so who knows, maybe I'll swim later in the holidays :)....


I am still looking for pattern ideas for my Kauni Rainbow Yarn, but def don't want to make a shawl (I've seen loads of shawls made from it)...any ideas / suggestions?

Have a summery day folks!
♥Heidi

Dolphins, Martin and Knit Companion

We had supper with friends (15 of us!) at our house last night. I haven't seen my dear friend Debbie (who lives down the road from us) for a few months, so I was looking forward to catching up. Gerry, the kids and myself went into town for some basic supplies, and arrived home around 4 o'clock, which was when my Woolies groceries order was supposed to be delivered. As it turned out, the delivery arrived at 7 o'clock, with me trying to juggle kids, cooking and a slew of phone calls from the hospital...it was like being in the Twilight Zone, I swear! Thankfully Debbie chatted to some of our other guests and by the time we all sat down for supper, things were more under control. As it was such a late night, we slept late, and woke to a warm but misty ocean, calm and glassy. This is generally the weather the dolphins like, and sure enough, huge schools swam lazily by...
The dolphins are a regular feature along our bay...you can ususally see them early morning and around 4 in the afternoon. They swim quite close to the breakers, and if you are brave enough, you can either swim amongst them or paddle on your paddleski between them.

Our bay has a lot of sea life. Whales are frequently spotted, albeit further out obviously, and occasionally Killer whales are spotted as they travel up the coast.
Within an hour the mists had disappeared, giving way to a glorious calm, sunny day. Gerry went out to swim early on, and I suspect that the girls will head down as soon as the little potatoes are awake from their late night!


I received a lovely email from Tania (who lives in Russia), sharing her beautiful African Flower Bear (who she has named Martin) with me. I asked if I could post her photos to show you all how adorable the little bear turned out. I really love the colours and the sweet expression! You are so talented Tania, thank you for sharing :)

If you have made Lollo bear and would like to show some photos of your creation, post the photos on the Projects page of the Ravelry pattern. This way everyone who accesses the pattern page on Ravelry can see them :) I would love to see all of the bears you have crocheted!


I have recently discovered Knit Companion for iPad. This is an App available through iTunes, that allows you to set up and organize any PDF based knitting pattern on your iPad. It is a fantastic tool, as you don't need a paper copy at all. You can add row counters, repeats, different sections at a time of your pattern, as well as pictures, charts , lifelines and stitch markers...all on the iPad! Awesome stuff folks! So you only need your needles and yarn and your iPad and you are set to go. They have a very useful video tutorial guide on how to set up everything, so it's easy and user friendly. I cannot recommend this App highly enough :)....and No, I am not paid by them to say these things ;)
The App costs $15.99, but before you balk at the price, let me asure you that I think it is worth every cent! You can download all your Ravelry Patterns and convert them into easy to follow Knit Companion patterns....it's the best knitting App I have ever bought....

The App comes with several awesome patterns form well known designers, so you can start playing (and knitting ;) ) straight away...

Have any of you bought Knit Companion? Let me know what you think!

♥Heidi

Paradise...

We arrived at lunchtime, to a warm but very windy summer's day. Although the sea conditions are rough with white horses all the way to the horizon, Gerry and the girls were on the beach within 10 minutes of us arriving. I opened up all the windows to air out the house a bit, set up shop and decided to blog :) My internet connection is appalling so far out from wherever it is that the things that makes the internet work are, but I managed to get two photos up...

I am thankful to say that since our last visit, no disasters have befallen the house and it is just wonderful to be here :)

Happy Sunday !
♥Heidi

A bit of this , and a bit of that....

The holiday is finally upon us...the last two weeks have been very tiring on Gerry , with his ICU full of the very sickest of patients...the silly season seems to be in full swing, as we have seen a remarkable increase in patients who were involved in car accidents. So he has been at the hospital virtually all the time, and having hardly any sleep. We have had four ECMO patients as well in this period, necessitating almost round the clock checks. And then, he woke up this morning sick as anything...he had cut his foot and hadn't really paid all that much attention to it as he was too preoccupied with the patients. And thus, as is Murphy's Law, it became cellulitic and he was feeling awful. I dosed him properly with antibiotics and panado, and by this afternoon he was feeling a little better. This really highlighted the need for a break with some sleep and relaxation, so tomorrow his partner will take over running the ICU and we will go on holiday! Whoo Hoo!


We will spend Christmas at the coast with our close friend Peter and our little godson Joshua. Aunty Heidi has already bought the little potato a truckload of presents as well as some delicious Christmas biscuits in different Christmas shapes. He loves these and I know will want to eat all of them in one go (I have my sincere doubts that his mom will allow this tho' :) ). Our precious girls can't wait to play with him and all in all, I think he will be in for a big spoil of attention time!
My good friend Dana has recently designed and knitted a beautiful elephant blanket for another knitter friend of ours who is having a baby in January. You can see it in the photo at the top of this post. I so loved this simple , beautiful design in Dana'a handdyed cotton, that I asked her to make up a kit for me, which she did (Thank you my friend!), and I hope to spend some time this holiday knitting it up. If you are interested in a kit , contact her...she may still have one or two left :)


I recently ordered a skein of Kauni self striping rainbow yarn. I have looked a lots of beautiful projects on Ravelry, using this yarn, so I wanted to try some. It really has lovely, vibrant colours, but is a little rough in feel. I will try to soak it in some fabric softener and see if that makes a difference. Nit sure yet what I will make from it...perhaps some socks? Any suggestions?

I am working on a sock pattern (every chance I manage to get...), and needed some stitch markers. I like the little bells that have been lurking in my beads cupboard, so I made some up into simple stitch markers. I really prefer the lobster claw attachments, as I can easily move them around without slipping stitches from needle to needle. They were quick and easy to make and cost almost nothing...


Above you can see some of Joshi's biscuits...

As you may all have figured out by now, I only knit on circulars and at that , only really knit Magic Loop wise... Because of this, I am always looking for new releases of circular needles. My favourites have always been the Addi's and the KnitPro's...until now! These new Red Lace Chiaogoo's are simply AWESOME!!!!!!!!! Although I love the Addi's and the KnitPro's, I have found that their cables are difficult to keep controlled (especially when you knit on 150cm needles), the immersion in hot water nothwithstanding....
The Chiaogoo's red cable seems to be made from a nylon encased metal / steel ?, and has NO memory whatsoever...so no coiling around itself and getting tangled... I JUST LOVE THEM! The points are sharp (Red lace needles) and the cable/needles joins are flawless. Really, I suspect that these will be my new BFF's... they come in a variety of sizes and can be found in loads of online yarn shops. I bought mine from Purlescence.



My yarn stash is housed in our spare room, and is chock full of stuff related to my knitting / crochet addiction. I managed to get some of the mess cleared up (yarn in bags, books organised, needles gathered etc...), and although there is still work to do, I am much relieved that I can at least walk around unimpeded! I have all my quilting and sewing stuff there as well.

Above are my sock knitting books and embroidery cottons...

On the centre island (repurposed kitchen block), I keep my sewing machines and odds and ends...

More books and yarn....

A friend...

Quilting cottons...

Friends and cottons...

...yet more quilting cottons... a lot of these were purchased for a set of quilts that I started making for the girls. I have a fair amount of the blocks made...perhaps I will take up the task of appliqueing the remainder next year. The pattern is Piece o' Cake Designs' "Welcome to the North Pole"...a fantastic book with adorable applique designs. The quilt is made up of blocks that each depict a North Pole House, eg Elves bunkhouse, Ice cream shop etc, and the variety of fabric printed textures you need, resulted in the cotton stash seen here...

I just love Puggies (and Pittbulls...better say that or mine will be jealous!)...

So, a post about all kinds of bits... tonight I need to pack Christmas pressies in my suitcase and gather my knitting goods...for tomorrow bright and early we'll be off :)

Have a great weekend folks!
♥Heidi

Sunday dyeing happiness...

I spent a wonderful Sunday dyeing sock yarn. After an initial dyeing disaster (in which I had forgotten to add some ingredients to my dye bath :( ...) I managed to get exactly the right rich red colour I had wanted. I am working on a pattern for a pair of socks and have the first draft ready for test knitting...whoo hoo! I plan to knit until late...hope I can blog about them next week.
We are a week away from going on holiday! I am hoping that I will have the time to post more frequently...I have been a bad blogger , not getting to post at all in the last few weeks... here's hoping for some blogger time :)
Enjoy your Sunday folks :)
♥Heidi

Catching up...and some new activities

Today is a very quick post just to say "Hi", and let you know what I've been up to...I have been a busy little bee in the last few weeks :) Still running a lot at work, but I have managed to squeeze in loads of catch up fun stuff between everything. The staff and I want to decorate the ICU for Christmas, and after much thought, I decided to use paper as our tool for decor. It's relatively inexpensive (as I have wayyyyy too much Scrapbooking paper), and everyone can make something. We wanted the ICU to look bright and colourful, so hot pinks, bright oranges , neon greens, egg yellows and other saturated colours are the main elements.


We are making 3D paper stars, 3D snowflakes, and other paper cutouts to hang on the walls. I found the most amazing range of colourful glitters to add a happy sparkle to the finished items. Hopefully this week will see me making the Santa's Village (in paper of course :) ) for the Nurses station. I hope to make some big and small reindeer as well, and our small Christmas Tree...yes, also from paper.

Above is my Cricut Expression Cutter. I am using a bunch of cartridges with Christmas and Snowflake patterns, to cut out shapes and decorations like these you see below :) Loads of fun and actually quite quick!


I managed to make all the Christmas gifts for the staff as well as little Origami gift boxes to house the gifts, and most of my friends' and family's gifts too...so things are on the way to getting finished :)

I pinned LOADS of pins on my Pinterest Boards for you all to see...so if you need some inspiration for gifts, go and take a look :)


I found the most amazing papercraft and Origami stuff while searching the web for ideas for our ICU...I pinned the best ones for you to see ...


Two weekends ago, I made up a huge batch of Bath Melts (probably around 300 or so), which were Lavender scented...these will be gifted to all my lady/ girl friends and family members.

How is your gift making going? Have you found anything that has inspired you? I'd love to know :)

Have a good evening folks!
♥Heidi