Meet the twins

I always said that every little girl should have a rag doll to love, and over the years I have made quite a few for small female relatives and daughters of friends, I even made one for a small boy who was desperate to have a dolly of his own despite his father being adamant that no son of his was going to have a doll - I dressed it in a BRIGHT orange clown suit with fluorescent green buttons (well it was the '70s) and everyone was happy, especially small boy who took Clowny to bed for several years.
So when I heard about the Uthando project, well there was nothing for it but to get the sewing machine out, and may I present the twins.



The pattern was one I had kept from an old Prima magazine and the original clothes patterns were all knitted, so I got some paper, pencil and scissors and designed his trousers and her dress. I knitted the hair with loops for him (well, a little coloured chap has to have curly hair doesn't he?) and garter stitched the little girls hair then added strands which DD braided (her suggestion, which I think worked well).
All that was left was to choose names for the twins, so here we have


Kuhle
(meaning beautiful)

And


Okuhle
(meaning good luck)

And I bought yarn

One of the prettiest places we visited on the cruise was Santa Margherita, and because the ship was so large, and the port so small, we anchored out to sea and took a Tender ashore.



We enjoyed a leisurely stroll around the streets and noticed this shop
which looked like a nice little place, and then I noticed something at the back of the shop through the window, and on closer inspection there seems to be a strange combination of goods for sale.
(DH was, at this point, a little concerned what our fellow passengers would think should they notice him taking a photo of ladies underwear!)
Anyway, DD and I just had to go in, all the yarn was in shelves behind or under the glass topped counter with no price labels or any details, and despite the elderly shopkeeper not speaking a word of English, and my Italian being limited to yes, no, please and thank you, we managed to establish the cost and explain (through sign language mainly) how many balls I wanted of what.

In real life the yarn is a little lighter, and to me reflects the beautiful colours of the seafront.

Don't cry because it's over.....

...smile because it happened

A very appropriate saying for our holiday (spotted on the blackboard outside a pub ) - we had such a great time, I really did not want to come back to reality. We've just come back from a fornight on this

P&O's new ship Ventura
Which was, to put it mildly, wonderful. When I first saw it in Southampton docks my jaw dropped and I wondered how on earth I was going to find my way around without getting lost - I even considered a wristband saying 'if found please return to cabin 503' but in actual fact I didn't get lost, even once - a little disorientated maybe, but lost - no.
I find it so relaxing on a cruise, no worrying about supermarket shopping, cooking, washing up etc, in fact the only problem regarding food is 'shall I chose this, or shall I chose that'. Plenty of time to read and knit (of course) and enjoy the entertainment - though it has to be said that of the 3 ships we have been on this scores lowest on the entertainment/activities/lectures front as there was little to appeal to us, but as far as the cabin went it was the best - and having booked before the ship was even built! we got a fantastic deal and could afford a balcony which was just amazing.

We went down the Med, primarily Spain and Italy where we saw

The leaning tower
The Trevi Fountain
and of course
ate Italian icecream

And one last picture - as DD says it is unusual for me to look so happy in a photo, but then again, sitting on the balcony watching the sea go by, with knitting, ipod and a drink by my side - it just doesn't get much better than this.