A grand day in.... Actually, three of them.

The combination of cold, grey Melbourne skies and my feeling quite poorly made for a perfect weekend of cosy, crafty indoor activity.

On Friday I made a wavy (knitting-machine-short-row-practise) scarf using two balls of the lovely Tencel yarn I bought at the quilt show. All manner of dodgey-ness (in technique and finish) prevent me from giving it as the gift it was intended to be, so it's MINE...and it's sooooo lovely and soft to wear... and drapes beautifully. But dodgey... yes, too dodgey to give away.

Saturday was a sewing day with the wee one. We cracked into the Saffron Craig cat panels that I brought back from the Sydney show. The wee girl is cat-obsessed and likes sewing so it was a no-brainer project choice. Little snippy embroidery scissors gave her the control she needed to snip confidently around the seam allowances, and were a huge hit. (I only wish she'd listen to my advice about holding onto the main fabric and snipping off the little scraps, instead of the other way around. I guess she's only going to learn when she cuts herself. She's that kind of kid....)

She changed the name from the "Tom-Puss" printed on the panel (and we therefore had to make a new name-tag). I believe she also gave it a sex-change... "Kitford is a girl, actually...."

The other panel-cat is "Catford". (Catford is a girl too, I think).

The fancy-schmantzy sewing machine was set to super-low-speed and she sewed curves and corners - first with lots of help but needing less as the day progressed.
I drew lines to show her where to clip the seam allowances, and she managed without accident or incident. We used pinking shears too.

After a bit of stuffing and slip-stitching, Kitford and Catford were ready for bed..... ..with all the other friends. (Note: "Starrie" from the girl's last sewing lesson and "Snailie", a gift from the gorgeous Annie).
Then she decided to design and make her own cat and bird.
On Sunday we ventured out to the backyard for a photoshoot of the newly finished knitted dress (started on the train to Sydney). It was too cold to go out without a few more layers...the Beebop cardi I made last year, a crochet hat...
...and a hideous acrylic Collingwood (football team) scarf that the wee girl and I knitted on the machine a few weeks ago.
The dress was a bit of a make-it-up-as-I-go-along thing, based on a few of the techniques I've picked up from making other simple patterns. It worked really well and I've no idea how to repeat it.
I spent the better part of Sunday with the knitting machine. The wee girl made another softie cat, pretty much on her own. By the time she finished it, I was too busy trying to undo a major bungle on the knitting machine to take a photo....
But you've probably seen enough photos of the weekend in this post, non?