Long time...

It has been a full-on couple of months here at casa 20c mixture. After our holiday in Auckland, Alex started a new job that is keeping him busy and I have been occupied with assignments and teaching. I'm currently in the middle of another 7 week teaching placement at a primary school in Lower Hutt. This time I had to plan and teach several weeks of classes, which has been both exhausting and rewarding. I have had a lot of late nights up preparing resources and polishing lesson plans, and broken sleep worrying about how it will go. Thankfully my preparation paid off and the last three weeks have gone relatively smoothly, albeit with the help of strong cups of coffee at lunchtime to get me through the afternoon.
The final two weeks of my placement will be a lot quieter, as I'll be sharing the teaching with the classroom teacher, meaning I'll hopefully get more time for crafting and gardening (I still haven't planted the new vege garden).
I'm hoping to get back into posting more regularly now that this current busy period is over. I've taught a few art lessons with my class and they have done some great work that I'd like to share. I've also got some plans for new designs for my online shop that have been brewing in my head and need to be sewn up. In the meantime, here is my first FO in a very long time, a soft knitted ball for my niece. The pattern is from Knitted Toys by Zoe Mellor. A simple pattern made up of six separate sections, which required a lot of sewing up at the end, but I think the finished product was worth it.