I am still alive...

...but melting somewhat in the heat of Florence. Thank goodness for gelato!

We're enjoying our European holiday. If you're interested, I have uploaded a few pictures from London onto Flickr.

More soon.

My bags are packed, I'm ready to go...

Jet Planes, originally uploaded by Allergic to Apples

Cheesy title I know, but I've had "Leaving on a jet plane" stuck in my head all week.

We leave tonight for our holiday to the UK and Italy. Really looking forward to having a few weeks away and escaping the winter weather for a while.

We are not taking a laptop so I will be relying on internet cafes for my blog-fix. Hopefully I will be able to update you periodically on what I'm up to. If not, I'll be back on board in early July, with plenty of photos and hopefully some spoils from the craft meccas of London to share with you.

XOXO (yes, I have just discovered Gossip Girl!)

World Sweet World

I received the second issue of World Sweet World the other day and it is a goody. It's great to finally have a local indie craft magazine. Lots of great projects and features once again. My favourite project is a mini greenhouse made from an old wooden window - genius! I'm keen to try that one once we get back from Europe.

To get your hands on a copy, check out the website for details of how to buy online or where to get one in person. If you've got an idea for a project or a feature story, you can also read on the website about how to contribute.

And no, I'm not being paid to say all this stuff, I just think the magazine rocks!

Move along, nothing to see here

Not much craft happening round these parts. Instead I am busily ticking things off to-do lists ahead of our trip to Europe at the end of the week. I have been sewing, but it has been mostly altering and mending of things to pack. Next task is to hem a t-shirt for Alex using a twin needle for the first time. Wish me luck...

And just so I don't post without a picture, here's a photo I took last weekend in Martinborough. A lot of the vineyards had these chimney-looking things along their perimeters. Anyone know what they are? Things to scare off birds perhaps?

Toasty Hands

This past weekend celebrated the Queen's Birthday in NZ, meaning Monday was a holiday, so we headed over the hill to the Wairarapa to stay in a cottage for a couple of days. I decided not to cart my sewing machine over to Martinborough so I didn't make any progress on the quilt, but I did finish some fingerless mitts to match my scarf.





My first pair of "proper" fingerless mitts (other pairs I've knitted have just been a tube with a hole left for the thumb. I used this pattern (here's the Ravelry link), which I highly recommend - straight-forward and fairly simple. Next time I might make them slightly longer to keep my wrists a bit warmer. I think these will get a lot of use - I can keep my hands warm and still type in my cold office, or operate my ipod while walking to the bus stop, or sew in my freezing sewing room...