My Creative Space - Beanies x 4

Happy Easter Holidays!

I've been a bit quiet here lately but there has actually been a lot going on.

 It's been 8 weeks since we entered the gates of the Farmlet after our 3 month adventure around Australia in the caravan following the 2 year stint in Sydney. We've been busy settling in, unpacking and unwinding from all the change of the last few years. It already feels like we have been here forever. 

I always feel more settled with a move when there is a visit from some familiar faces and we have just had the in-laws from Alice Springs staying with us this last week. Timing couldn't have been more perfect as we were ready for a bit of a break. We have moved around a bit and lived away from extended family so have never had any day to day help with the kids. Whilst we enjoy being a self-sufficient family unit, when we do get some help we really appreciate it. So the arrival of the in-laws meant some much-needed sleeping-in as the kids gravitated to their grandparents in the mornings - pure bliss! My Mother-in-law cooked some meals and has a thing for clean kitchens - so there was no more waking up to a dirty kitchen in the mornings, you beauty! And my Father-in-law prefaces his visits with a request for me to prepare a list of jobs for him to do. I told him there was a list of "Lovely Chores" on the fridge and if he would like to have a look at that we would be most appreciative. In the end, he and the Pianoman got through quite a lot of items, some of which are just plain nasty. I'm talking about you grease trap! Does anyone else play reverse psychology with themselves and label chores "lovely' in the hope they are more likely to get done and be enjoyable?

Having the in-laws here also meant more time for me to finish off some things, like these beanies above. Before I started on Pips Granny-A-Day thingy, I thought I'd warm the fingers up with some knitting, since it had been so long since I've done anything creative. Having the four kids in four years saw an end to all things creative for me for a bit. However, the kids were most encouraging seeing me do something creative for the first time, "Gee Mum, you're really getting the hang of it!" and "You're getting better Mum, this one is sooooo much better then the first dodgy one you did!". So very encouraging. I did the blue one first with Blue Eyes happy to be the guinea pig. It really was a bit dodgy as I hadn't ever purled before and I lost track of where I was at and made a mess of the rim. He didn't care and loves it so much that he sleeps with it most nights and often nothing else. Miss Fancy chose pink and hers was much better but after doing two the same I got a bit bored and realised we would need something thicker for the Tassie winter. I then spotted the most simple pattern on the Martha Stewart website and made a yellow and grey beanie for the twins. These use a basic garter stitch but with 2 strands of Merino wool so they are super warm and snuggly. The boys love their 'cat hats'. So with my first ever beanies under my hat I can get on with finishing the little granny square blanket.

I'm linking up for the very first time with Our Creative Spaces.