Of mittens and kittens

Our lovely pink bottlebrush is flowering. I notice that the red ones seem to flower on and off all year but ours only flowers once which is sad because it's such a beautiful tree and a glorious colour.




I've been madly trying to finish a couple of pairs of fingerless mittens to send to my goddaughter for Christmas. She's about to start work in a lodge in France for the ski season and of course I've missed the NZ Post deadline ... Still I'm quite sure it will still be snowing there in Jan!





You may remember my kitten prototype - I mean how could you forget it ???



Sarah from Cotton Kiwi very kindly sent me a similar pattern a couple of months ago and I'm making it my Xmas holiday mission to work on knitting some toys. So the kitten will get a dust off and some adjustments and I'm trying for a bunny and an elephant. I hate knitting toys but I have to work on these and other projects to give me a summer product for the market. Never fear, progress reports will follow but not necessarily photos unless I have success! If I have as much trouble with the kitten's tail as I did with this one, I may well knit a Manx version .....

And speaking of kittens (well not any more but she sure behaves like one most nights) here's Isabella. I believe she may be saying "Look into my eyes and feed me" Unfortunately, as you can see, we have been doing too much of that and the vet has put her on a weight reduction food plan. She needs to lose 1.5 kilo's .... She's not happy ...