Photos taken by Jen.
Our hand reared doves have a new little family. We rescued the parents a while ago, we found the male first when he was still young and the female joined us a few months later. Such sweet little ones…
Our dear Delilah has doubled in size and is so sweet indeed, she follows us around the garden, running after us as we walk.
Also spying out Robin our Cockatiel, hmmm, we’ll have to watch this one:)
I have really been enjoying knitting on my Color Affection shawl, it’s almost finished and so exceptionally soft! I wasn’t sure about knitting with brushed kid mohair but I’m very happy I did. The feel is comforting and cozy, exactly what I want in a shawl. The size is also wonderful, I knitted the larger shawl because I wanted it to really wrap around me for when I go on walks and then I can just unwrap it as I need to. I am busy with the solid edge at the moment and have about half an inch to go and then it will be finished!
These photos above are of the view from my bedroom windows, I have three large bedroom windows looking out onto our back garden. The first photo is of a sparrow nest, this nest is about 2.5 metres away from my window, I am so excited Mr and Mrs Sparrow decided that this was the right spot to raise a family. We will be able to witness their journey, how precious!
The green photos (I LOVE green) have been taken from the two other windows… I love all the green variegation on the leaves of the ivy and lawn with just a tiny sliver of brown sand…
Our chickens…
Each morning our sweet girls make their way to this spot at the front door and call raucously until we appear and give them a few snacks. They are very inquisitive, forever trying to climb through open windows and see what the humans are up to:)
Erin’s chicken, Bubby having a nap in my planter…
I took this photo with my phone on the way to buy chicken food today, just loved the starkness of the tree against the sky.
Today has been the most exciting day ever!! We had snow!!! Not a lot, but we had snow!!!
We have been hoping for snow since the last time we had it in 2007 and here it is. It has been snowing on and off for most of the day. The kids are beyond excited and so am I!
This is the new fence we have been building to keep our chickens to one side of the garden.
Later the sun came out, so we went out into the back garden, Sandy started chasing something and we ran to see what it was. It ran and jumped into our swimming pool. It was a young Moorhen. She was so beautiful, such vibrant colours and the most amazing green and yellow legs and feet.
We quickly drove down to the pan and released her there with all the other Moorhens, I am so happy she escaped Sandy and we were able to return her to her home!
Aaaah and then to make my day even more perfect, a parcel arrived from dear Lori, such a wonderful gift, her photo book from her travels to Namibia! Every photo is beautiful and precious. I will treasure this special gift always!
PS If you haven’t yet entered the giveaway from Jeni, The Blog Maven for a beautiful Custom Blog Header worth $150, go here.
Have a great day, I am off to play in the snow!!
I am writing today from an incredibly icy Johannesburg. Our temperatures have plummeted below 0 C and it’s been freezing cold here over the last few days. I must tell you, I cannot wait for Spring! Today I was inspired to knit up a little owl pattern, I have been thinking of him ever since I made Beans the Cat so here he is…
I would like you to meet Seamus the Owl. He is quite similar to Beans the Cat, but I have changed the body by making him a little larger and adding a sweet little moss stitch to the front of his body to try and give him a slightly speckled / feathered chest.
Materials:
4mm circular needles
I used hand spun for Seamus but DK wool would be perfect
Sewing up needle
Black fleece and a felting needle to needle felt his eyes and beak
Fleece for stuffing
Abbreviations:
kfb: knit into the front and back of the stitch to increase
dpns: double pointed needles
knit 2 tog: knit 2 stitches together
You can knit this pattern with the magic loop or just use dpns for knitting him in the round.
Pattern:
Cast on 12 stitches and join for knitting in the round with the magic loop or on dpns
Round 1: Knit
Round 2: kfb into each stitch (24 stitches)
Round 3: kfb into each stitch (48 stitches)
Round 4: Knit
Round 5: Knit 12, (purl 1, knit 1) for 24 stitches, then knit to the end.
Round 6: Knit 12, (knit 1, purl 1) for 24 stitches, knit to the end.
Continue alternating rounds 5 and 6 of the moss stitch, finishing on round 18.
Round 19: (Knit 1, knit 2 tog) across the round (32 stitches)
Rounds 20-31: Knit
Cast off
Finishing Off:
Hold both edges together flat at the cast off edge and sew in and out, closing the top of your owl’s head.
Stuff Seamus, make sure the stuffing is nice and firm. Sew the opening closed at the base of his body.
Take a needle and wool, sew into the base of Seamus, secure the wool and push the needle up through his body and pull it out the top of his head, sew back down again and pull. This is going to make a nice big concave depression that will form his two ears.
Once you have sewn back down, pull the needle and wool out the base of the body, pull tight and sew the wool securely onto the knitting, ensuring the depression remains at the top of the head so that two ears appear on each side.
Wing Pattern: Knit 2
With 4mm needles knit your wings in garter stitch:
Cast on 5 stitches.
Knit first and second row.
Row 3: Cast on 2 stitches at the beginning of the row and 1 stitch at the end of the row.
Row 4: Knit.
Row 5: Cast on 1 stitch at the beginning and knit 2 together at the end of the row.
Row 6: Knit.
Row 7: Cast on 2 stitches at the beginning of the row, knit to the end of the row.
Row 8: Knit.
Cast off.
Sew the wings onto the sides of the body.
Sew a few strands of wool onto the points of the ears and then rub them with your fingers and pull apart the fibres to create the tufts on the owl’s pointed ears.
Eyes and Beak:
Needle felt on the eyes and beak with black fleece and a felting needle, two large circles for the eyes and a triangle for the ears.
Happy knitting.
Please do share you projects on Ravelry if you are a member, I have loved seeing all the different Beans the Cat projects there! I have a little Ravelry group called Mamma4earth where you can share your knitted treasures.
PS If you haven’t entered my giveaway you can enter here.
Have a lovely day,
Linda
Joining in with Ginny today for the Yarn Along.
Seamus Owl Pattern Copyright Linda Dawkins, Mamma4earth
