Knits and Pieces

Vanilla Chai Cupcakes

2010-10-02T10:20:00.003+10:00

Ingredients:

100g butter
1 cup caster sugar
2 eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla bean paste
1 1/4 cups plain flour
1/2 quantity chai spics mix (see below)
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/2 tsp bicarb soda
1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar

Chai Spice Mix

1 1/2 tsp ground cardamom
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

Vanilla Chai Buttercream

125g butter
1/4 tsp vanilla bean paste
3 cups icing sugar, sifted
1-2 tbs cold milk
1/2 quantity spice mix

Cinnamon sugar to dust

Method:

Cream butter and sugar. Beat in the eggs one at a time, add the vanilla. Stir in half the chai spice mix. Fold in the flour and the buttermilk, stir until combined but don't overbeat. Mix together the bicarb soda and vinegar and mix into the batter. Spoon into prepared cupcake cases.

Bake 15-20 minutes at 160 degrees celcius until cooked.

To make the buttercream, beat the butter until creamy and pale in colour. Add the vanilla and remaining spice mix. Slowly beat the icing sugar into the cutter about half a cup at a time to ensure that it isn't grainy. If the buttercream is too thick, add a splash of cold milk and beat until the desired consistancy is reached.

Pipe or spread buttercream unto cooled cupcakes. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar.

Delicious with a chai tea latte!

10 Rules of Basic Etiquette for the non-Crafty:

2010-04-21T22:28:00.002+10:00

1. Just because I am crafting in a public place does NOT mean I am fishing for compliments, comments, advice. etc…. I am minding my own business, how about you minding yours. Plus, before you decide to help yourself to my personal private space, from my crafting supplies, equipment etc. please pass me your wallet. If your gonna snoop in my personal belongings I get to snoop in yours.

2. Do not rubberneck my crafting project from two tables away or over my shoulder for 10 - 15 minutes watching me, then have the audacity to ask me “Did you do that?” You will get the “Nope. My invisible friend Matilda did it, but doesn’t like to feel like a freak so I fake it for her.” Plus do NOT crowd me, most crafts have sharp ended tools and I am not adverse to jabbing you with one so you get my point.

3. When gushing “I could never do that” be honest with yourself and the crafter in question, finish the sentence with “because I do not have the patience and I am a abject moron.”

4. All Family & friends, if I ever chose to create something for you it is an honor. It is NOT like going to the store and just picking something up. Creating the gift takes time, forethought, pre-planning, and time management. Keep in mind socks are NOT simple, neither is a scarf or a hat, they are basics where we learn and try new design and pattern ideas. Be very honored when we feel a practice piece is worthy of gifting to you.

5. NEVER EVER gift yarn, notions, patterns expecting it to be used for you. Do not hint that I make you something. Ask me simply and straightforward. I may or may not make it for free if you buy the yarn, or may charge you for my time… either way be proud and humble to think I would even consider doing it for you since you are too lazy to learn to do it for yourself.

6. If gifted with a handmade crafting item, thank the creator profusely even if you never want a hand made gift from them ever again, then state its beautiful and I’ll cherish it but handmade is really not your thing. This gets the giftee and the creator off the hook for more gifts that can be appreciated better by someone else on the creators list

7. If you are the recipient of a handcrafted item and decide within 2 years its not the thing for you, offer it back to its creator before selling it or regifting it to someone else. Its insulting to ask about a piece made for you to find out you donated it to goodwill, I got $5 at my garage sale for it, or hear from you “oh, that grey sweater. I gave it to my ex-boyfriends girlfriends best friend because it just wasn’t me.”

8. If the hand crafted item is wearable then WEAR it, if it is decorative USE it. If you are so overwhelmed that you want to take care of it so it won’t get destroyed FRAME it. If you choose to do none of these things give it back to the person that made the item because you do not deserve it.

9. Do not blame the creator if a thing you have bullied them into making for you does NOT turn out the way you want it. If you are so damned picky take the time to learn the craft and make it for yourself.

10. We craft because it relaxes us, we enjoy it, we can take our time and be proud of what we are doing. Selling our creativity for profit will stress us out, put us under deadlines, and generally make us want scream. That is why it is a hobby and not our JOB so quit pestering us by how much money we could make yadda yadda yadda.

Hot off the needles!

2010-04-17T17:05:00.004+10:00

*A Star Crossed Slouchy Beret for Moi knit in Malabrigo Worsted (Love this yarn!)

*A pair of Felted Slippers for the Pa-In-Law in Cosy Wool

*An Easter Basket (my own design) for Jayden in Cosy Wool

TC Ului part 2

2010-03-21T19:28:00.002+11:00

Tropical Cyclone Ului crossed the coast at Proserpine in the early hours of the morning. We haven't felt anything up here at all. No wind, no rain, nothing. It has now been downgraded to a tropical low and it will move across the state. All is well.

Tropical Cyclone Ului

2010-03-20T17:38:00.002+11:00

A cyclone is coming! Check it out.

The cyclone is expected to cross the coast between Ayr and Mackay early Sunday, possibly re-intensifying to a Category 3 system before landfall. The cyclone is then expected to weaken inland later on Sunday.

VERY DESTRUCTIVE wind gusts to 170 km/hr near the cyclone centre may affect coastal and island communities in the threatened area early Sunday.

DAMAGING winds are expected to develop between Cardwell and Yeppoon later today, then extend to adjacent inland parts on Sunday.

TIDES between Bowen and St Lawrence may rise to just above the normal high tide mark overnight with very rough seas and dangerous conditions along the foreshore.

HEAVY RAINFALL and flooding are likely to develop about coastal and adjacent
inland areas between Bowen and St Lawrence early Sunday.

DANGEROUS SURF conditions are expected to continue about exposed beaches south
of the cyclone until later on Sunday. A separate Severe Weather Warning is
current for these conditions.

People between Cardwell and Yeppoon and inland including Charters Towers and Clermont should complete preparations quickly and be prepared to shelter in a safe place.

We are prepared as much as we can be. We are calling my Nan and Pop who live in Bowen, as it looks like they will be copping the brunt of the cyclone. Up in Townsville, we are likely to just get a lot of rain and wind. It should all be over soon. Will keep you all posted.

Orange and Almond Friands

2010-03-02T20:05:00.003+11:00

Ingredients:

Cooking Spray to grease
230g Pure Icing Sugar, sifted
185g Unsalted Butter, melted
100g Almond Meal
75g Plain Flour
6 Egg Whites, lightly whisked
Finely grated Orange Rind of one orange
50g Flaked Almonds

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 200C. Spray friand pan lightly with cooking spray to grease.
2. Place icing sugar, butter, almond meal, flour, egg whites and orange rind in a bowl and stir until just combined.
3. Spoon the mixture amond the prepared pans. Carefully place some almond flakes on top of each friand.
4. Bake in oven for 25 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centres comes out clean.

The Ultimate Chocolate Brownie..... with Raspberries!

2010-03-02T19:53:00.005+11:00

Ingredients:

320g Unsalted Butter
1 1/4 Cups Cocoa
7 Eggs
3 Cups Sugar
1 tsp Vanilla Essence
1 1/2 - 2 Cups Dark Chocolate Chips
1 1/4 Cups Plain Flour
1 tsp Baking Powder
Frozen/Fresh Raspberries (optional)
Icing Sugar to dust

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 160C
2. Line a large baking tin/roasting dish with baking paper (I used one about 24x36cm)
3. Melth the butter in a large bowl (there are a lot of ingredients to fit in here) in the microwave.
4. Using an electric mixer, beat cocoa into melted butter
5. Add eggs, sugar and vanilla and whiz with the electric mixer for 3-4 minutes until the mixture begins to whip up in volume.
6. Using a wooden spoon, mix in the chocolate chips.
7. Sift flour and baking powder in and stir until fully combined.
8. Pour into lined baking dish. Give it a shake to even out the mixture.
9. If using raspberries, dot these evenly on top of the mixture, gently pushing them in just under the surface.
10. Bake in oven at 160C for about 1 hour, or until an inserted skewer comes out clean.
11. Leave to cool in tin for about 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to allow it to cool further.
12. Sift icing sugar over the top
13. Enjoy with coffee, chocolate milk or take to work to woo your co-workers.

Simplicity

2010-03-02T16:42:00.001+11:00

I was recently asked by tikki to test knit her newest design. I was so honoured! This is the design.

During the initial testing stages, this little singlet top was named “Simplicity” and I think that it suits it really well.

Yarn: 3 balls of Anchor Magicline 100% worsted weight cotton (It was so close, that I used all but 84cm of yarn, not even enough for another round!!!)
Needles: 4mm 40cm Addi Turbo
Size knitted: 3T, although the pattern does go from Newborn to Size 10.

This pattern will be available through Tikki very soon. :)

My Valentine

2010-02-21T19:37:00.002+11:00

I just finished knitting a lace scarf called My Valentine.

Details:
Start: 6 Feb 2010
Finish: 20 Feb 2010
Pattern: My Valentine on Ravelry
Yarn: Bendigo Woollen Mills Luxury 4ply in "Ruby"
Needles: 4mm

Notes: This was a great pattern,very clear, charted and written out. It comes in 3 sizes, a small for a scarf, medium and large for a stole. I would knit this again.

White Chocolate Chip Cookies

2010-02-04T13:43:00.002+11:00

Ingredients:

250g butter, softened
250g soft brown sugar
2 eggs, beaten
460g self raising flour
pinch of salt
250g white chocolate chips

1. Pre-heat fan forced oven to 190 degrees celcius. Lightly grease 2 baking trays, or just line with greaseproof paper. In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Gradually add the beaten egg.
2. Sift the flour and salt into the creamed mixture and blend well. Stir in the white chocolate chips.
3. Roll a teaspoon sized blob of mixture into a ball, place on baking trays and flatten slightly. Be sure to give the cookies room to spread out.
4. Bake in oven for 10-12 minutes or until just golden (I check at 10 minutes and find they are done). Cool on wire rack, or eat them straight away. :)

You can also add 50g of chopped brazil nuts or macadamias to this mixture if you've got them, but they are pretty good without them. Add them in when you add the white chocolate chips.

Strawberries and Cream

2010-02-04T13:40:00.002+11:00

I just finished knitting and felting myself a new small projects bag.

Yarn: Two balls of Lincraft "Cozy Wool". One in solid pink, the other in variegated pink and white.

Needles: Instead of using 5 DPN's, I used 2x 40cm 4mm Addi Turbo circular knitting needles. I placed markers on the needles to simulate the 4 DPN's, and did the increases at the start of the needles and immeditely after the centre markers. It worked brilliantly!

Notes: This bag shrunk by about half and the pink faded a little, but it is still nice and bright. I felted this in my front loader washing machine at 90 degrees celcius for the full length of the cycle. I added a towel for friction. I let the bag dry with a small plate in the bottom of the bag to make it sit flat.

The gorgeous crocheted flowers in the picture were lovingly supplied by my baby sister Joanne. :)

Whisper Cardigan

2010-02-03T09:57:00.002+11:00

I recently finished knitting a Whisper Cardigan!

Pattern: Whisper Cardigan (Interweave Knits Spring 2009)

Yarn: Brown Sheep Cotton Fine (4ply) in "Cavern" - 3.5 balls

Needles: 4.5 mm, 3.5 mm, 2.5 mm

Modifications: I knitted the back so that it was longer. I also added another 10 rounds to the sleeves after the decreases and before the increases so that they were longer.

Notes: This was a really fun pattern to knit. The longest and most time consuming part was the ribbing around the opening of the shrug.

Rain

2010-01-30T19:54:00.003+11:00

It's been raining a lot this week. We've had over 400mm of rain!

These are photo's of the gully in my neighbourhood. Normally there are walking tracks, park benches, bridges, flowers and grass. At the moment, it's all underwater.

These pictures were taken when the rain had stopped temporarily, and at about 5pm this afternoon. It's so dark with all these storm clouds hanging around. The rain this week has come from 2 ex-cyclones, Cyclone Neville and Cyclone Olga. It's been messing up a lot of Townsville. We've had King tides, the Strand (the local beach) has been mostly eroded, water has backed up across streets, sewage pipes have burst and flooded people's houses, mains water pipes have burst, wind gusts that are bringing down palm fronds in our yard, and tree's throughout the rest of town. The kids all got soaked for the first day back at school. The weather forcast for the next few days is more rain, but at least it has stopped everyone from complaining about the heat. It's a wonderful 25 degrees celcius right now. Kinda makes up for the fact that my herb garden is submerged! :)

Lavender Milo xoxox

2010-01-13T10:25:00.002+11:00

A friend of mine who I have only ever met online is having her second baby (a little girl) in a few weeks. I decided on the spur of the moment to knit her a Milo.

I love this pattern; this is the third one that I have knit. The newborn size is especially fun, as it only takes a day to knit up and you get to have fun with the cable choices.

Project notes:

Yarn: Carnival 8 Ply Acrylic in Lavender
Needles: 4.5mm Addi Turbo's
Size: Newborn
Started: 11 Jan 10
Finished: 12 Jan 10

This is the first time that I have ever knit with acrylic, simply because there are no yarn stores up here apart from Lincraft and Spotlight..... and I am devastated that I am seperated from my beloved stash!!!!! Wah! Having said that, the yarn did knit up nicely and gave lovely stitch definition, and the garter stitch border didn't curl like the wool ones that I have knit. So that's a win. :)

Action shots to come.... I hope!

Australian Butterfly Sanctuary

2010-01-11T11:46:00.003+11:00

This week, we all went up to Kuranda to see the Butterfly Sanctuary. It was a gorgeous, magical place, and it is the home to over 1500 butterflies. I was lucky enough to get some of them to pose for me. :) Jayden absolutely adored the butterflies!

Deejay's Felted Slippers

2010-01-10T15:41:00.002+11:00

A few months ago, my partner Deejay asked me to make him a pair of felted slippers like Jayden's.So I did.

They turned out to be a perfect fit for him after being felted twice.

Pre-felting size was 40cm. Post-felting size was 27cm, or to fit a size 9.5 Australian.

Project details:

Yarn: 2.2 100g balls of Lincraft "Cosy Wool"
Needles: 6mm
Started 3rd January
Finished 9th January
Skill Level: Easy

The yarn did bleed somewhat, resulting in a lighter blue than the original yarn. My partner still loves them.

Happy Birthday To Me!

2010-01-08T23:38:00.002+11:00

I had a wonderful day! I was given some pandora charms for my bracelet, a pandora love pod "3 pod" ring, a swarovski crystal necklace and 3 lovely dresses. I went to the hair dresser and had my hair cut, coloured and straightened, got a lot of knitting done as well as being able to do some shopping and going out for dinner. It was awesome. It's too bad that birthdays only happen once a year!

2010 Knitting Intentions

2010-01-03T16:45:00.003+11:00

I've been deliberating this for a while. Mostly, I am just going to be happy if I knit half as much as I did last year, 28 finished objects is a hell of a lot for me considering that I work full time.

Ok, here we go:

1. Princess Zia (on the needles)
2. Felted Slippers for Deejay (on the needles)
3. Pink Champagne
4. Devan size 3yo for Jayden
5. Luna Moth Shawl - This is going to be knit with 2ply pure silk in a gorgeous straw/golden colour
6. Felted Hexagonal Coasters
7. Farinelli
8. Playground Shirt size 3yo for Jayden
9. Basic Baby Socks on 2 Circulars (Baby shower gift)
10. Rosie Posie Tea Cosy
11. French Press Felted Slippers
12. Esther Socks
13. Tonks Socks
14. Knitted Then Felted Bag

The rest I am just going to wing it..... decide when I see a pattern that I like while flicking through a magazine or surfing Ravelry.

The best part about this list is I already have most of the yarn in my stash to make these things. Woohoo!

As for the rest of my craftiness, I would like to learn how to sew more. I am going to practice my crochet some more and generally branch out and expand on my knitting skills.

I would also love to knit this shawl: 1 ply Rosebud Shawl. It may not get completed this year, as it is going to be my long term project, but it will be knit eventually. This is going to be my wedding veil for when we eventually get around to getting married. Eee! So I have the pattern and the yarn, now I just need to be able to sit down and knit it.

2009 Craft Summary

2010-01-01T00:18:00.004+11:00

2009 has been a very productive year for me! Here is my list of what I have completed this year:

1. Tiniest Socks Ever
2. Check Mate! Sweater
3. First Love Longies
4. Water Sprite Shorties
5. Felted Slippers
6. Silver Fetching
7. Silk Garden Gloves
8. February Lady Sweater
9. Fruit Tingles Socks
10. Beachcomber Cabled Vest
11.Swallowtail Shawl "Rosebuds"
12. White Chocolate Milo
13.Felted Gusto Bag
14. Purple Storm Ishbel
15. Full Length Fetchings
16. Owlish
17. Midnight Fetching
18. Plum Fetching
19. Caution: Contents Hot
20. Colour of Magic Scarfette
21. Nice 'n' Bright bag
22. Baudelaire - The Flowers of Evil socks
23. Liesl
24. Nice 'n' Girly bag
25. Rainforest Toddler Socks
26. Gail A.K.A "Nightsongs"
27. Just Right and Bigtime Washcloths
28. Vineyard Washcloth

I've learnt a lot. I learnt to crochet, I learnt how to knit shawls, I learnt how to knit from the toe up in sock knitting, I've knit garments, I've knit for swaps, friends, babies, myself and for Jayden. Next year I am hoping to be just as creative.

Very soon I will post my knitting intentions for 2010, so keep an eye out for that.

Happy New Year everyone!

Christmas Stocking

2009-12-19T09:03:00.002+11:00

For a long time, I have been interesting in sewing. My dear friend Kylie told me that it was fun, and much quicker than knitting. So, when my Mother In Law bought me a sewing machine for Christmas, I was quite pleased. It's a super cute little Elna, called "Sew Fun". It makes me smile whenever I see it's bright, happy colours.

My very first project was inspired by Christmas stockings that I saw in the window of Simply Stitches, my local yarn store. The one that I liked wasn't available in pattern anymore, so I chose this one instead.

So this is the finished product. I am ridiculously pleased with how it turned out. Of course, because it was my first project, I had a lot of help. I'd like to thank Faye from Simply Stiches for her help with teaching me how to use my sewing machine and her help with assembling the stocking. I'd also like to thank Patricia for her help with sewing on the chequered edging..... the part that almost drove me to tears!

I've learnt alot. How to use my machine, how to do blanket stitch (properly), how to do stem stitch, the joys of vleisofix and pellum and cutting material on the bias for elasticity. Ah, another addictive hobby. :)

We're Moving House

2009-12-13T13:54:00.002+11:00

[Borrowing this from Kylie]

Well, it's that time of year again where we have to move. All my knitting, crocheting, sewing and beading stuff is stashed away in my suitcase and we're off to sunny Townsville for a month. Never fear, I shall return with plenty to show off. Bye for a while.

Love Kelly

Gail a.k.a Nightsongs

2009-12-12T11:23:00.003+11:00

I finished knitting Gail!

Pattern: Gail a.k.a Nightsongs (Ravelry)
Yarn: Handmaiden Fine Yarn Seasilk (4ply)
Needles: 4.5mm Knitpicks Harmony 80cm long circular
6 Repeats of the body pattern knitted up
Skill Level: Intermediate

I started knitting this in July and she hibernated for a long long time, because I basically got it in my head that it was too hard to do. Well, I inserted stitch markers so that each repeat (or leaf) was marked and then it became a lot easier. I also joined a KAL in the Aussie Shawl Knitters group on Ravelry and that motivated me a lot. I knitted this shawl with a centre stitch because I didn't like the look of the double yarn overs in the centre and I am pleased with the end result. I would knit this again.... just not immediately. I think I need a break from shawls for a little bit.

Random

2009-12-08T11:42:00.003+11:00

This is a Birthday present to my Mother in Law. She loves it! It took me a few hours to put together and it was a lot of fun. For the first time in a long time, all of the beads that I used cam from my stash. That means that I didn't actually need to buy anything to make it! Woohoo!

Here's a picture of my two favourite boys having a quick jam session. Aren't they adorable? :)

A mostly knitting post

2009-11-23T19:48:00.005+11:00

I finished knitting my Nice 'n' Girly crochet project bag!

This was a lot of fun. It is the same as the one that I made for my sister, but this one is done in 8 ply. I really procrastinated when it came to sewing it up, because it took us so long to do last time.

Project Notes
Pattern: Nice 'n' Spicy
Yarn: 200g each of Bendigo Woollen Mills Luxury 8 ply baby pink and lavender
Hook: 4mm
Notions: 12 pink butterfly buttons
:12 purple butterfly buttons
:Bag handles (I actually used curtain tie backs for mine!)
:Cotton for sewing up (I used sock yarn)
:Fabric for lining

I had a few pink buttons left over, so I decided to do a triple button stack. Yes, it is a real thing, no I did not just make that up. ;) It's a "Feature"

I also tied the knots off on the outside of the bag (instead of inside) because I thought the little tails would look like butterfly wings. Cute, eh?

Secondly, here is the beginning of Jayden's blanket. I became obsessed with knitting granny squares, and I decided that a granny square blanket was the way to go. I am using a 5mm hook and Patons Zhivago yarn in blue and white.

Jayden's Rainforest Toddler Socks! He came home from daycare missing a pair of socks, so I decided that I would knit him a pair, just for fun.

Project Notes
Pattern: Easy Toddler Socks
Yarn: Opal sock yarn (about 1/5th of a ball)
Needles: 2.5mm addi turbo's

These knit up so fast! I would definitely make another pair.

The beginnings of a Gaenor shawl. This one is knit from tip to tip, with the edging knitted all in one go. It's certainly an experience in shawl knitting.

Oh, and Jayden rocking out. He loves this guitar, and I could not resist taking this photo of him posing. :)

A decidedly non knitty post

2009-11-21T12:32:00.004+11:00

Yesterday, the local grocery store decided to have a "market day". A lot of things went on special just for the duration of the day.
* I scored 12 Chicken Jumbo's (sort of like a chicken burger patty but thicker) from Lenards for $6.
* I picked up a loaf of bread from Brumby's for $1 (we've eaten half the loaf already because it was so soft and fresh).
* I picked up 10kg of navel oranges for $1. Yes, they were 10c a kilo. Win!

I went home and made orange juice.... and those 10kgs made up about 3.5 litres. It is the best tasting orange juice I have ever had! Jayden helped with the whole process, of course. :) Here he is lining them up in a nice neat row for me....

.....and then here he is eating the peel off one.

He kept pointing at them saying "Orange, orange". Occasionally, he would run off with an orange and hide it in with his toys, so whenever I saw him leave the room, I just knew what he was up to.

See how the oranges were halved, sitting in the bowl? Well that must have looked quite appealing to Jayden, because he kept helping himself. He LOVED it! He was super sticky afterwards, but DJ was the one to bathe him that night. Lol!

I went to Melbourne for the weekend and caught up with the In-Laws. Jayden loved all of the extra attention and he just had a blast.

We went shopping out at the Chadstone Shopping Centre, and it drove me a little nuts. Roadworks and other people driving on the road... makes for a very nervous me! I also got to meet my niece for the first time! My Brother-in-Law Andrew and his partner Rose had a little girl about 3 months ago, and the named her Tahliah. She's a sweet baby. It's amazing how quickly you forget how small they used to be. *sigh*

I also had the opportunity to make some memory wire crystal and pearl bracelets. The first one (purple) was for my Mother-in-Law. When she went home, her daughter Kat loved it so much that she started wearing it. Rose and I got onto the subject of beading, and she is a fan as well. I asked Dave if he could bring me down the other kits, and I made them both at the same time. I think that they turned out really well! I love beading, it's quick, fun and they make great presents. Beware though, it is really addictive.

When we returned home from Melbourne, I put Jayden's Birthday blanket in his cot. He absolutely loves it, 100%. I think it is because of all the lovely bright colours. It's lighter in weight than the blanket that he had on his cot, but really, it's perfect for this time of year.

Then we played peek-a-boo!

After that, Jayden saw Foofy, one of my childhood stuffed animals up on the top of his chest of drawers. I grabbed him down and let him have a play. I told Jayden that he needed to be very careful. So he gave Foofy a big cuddle and a kiss. It was so sweet!

Then I dressed Jayden for Santa photo's and headed off for that. Jayden was not particularly keen on the idea of Santa, and refused to be put down. In the end, I had a gold blanket draped over me and Jayden sat on my lap while I sat next to Santa. I hope that next year is a little better.

Then when we got home, Jayden crashed and went straight to sleep.

BTW, it's hot. 40 degrees + is not cool.

I have been doing knitting, and buying yarn, but I will save that for another post.

Of course, I get all of this done on the good days. On the bad days, well, it is just hard enough getting out of bed and getting dressed.

Baudelaire is finished!

2009-11-11T12:39:00.003+11:00

I finally finished knitting Baudelaire! I am beyond pleased with how these socks turned out. Note to self: Do not put socks aside again. My tension was slightly tighter with the second sock, so the cuff is a little snugger than the first, but I am sure that it will stretch out with time.

I love these socks, and I am used to the toe up construction, but it does feel a bit weird not picking up gusset stitches.

Some finished knits

2009-10-24T14:16:00.002+11:00

I've been busy knitting late into the night recently. Firstly is Baudelaire by Cookie A.

Notes: Try something a little different with these lacy toe-up socks. A simple 8 row repeat leaf lace pattern paired with some cables, gusset increases, short rowed round heel, and genuine heel flap – enough to keep you entertained without driving you batty.

This has been a very satisfying knit so far. The lace is charted, and I tackled it, no problems. :) I don't know why I was so afraid of lace charts! I cast on the second sock already, using knitty's magic cast on.

Yarn: 2 skeins Lorna's Lace's sock yarn in "Valentine"
Needles: 2x 2.5mm Addi Turbo's
Notions: Cable needle and yarn needle

I knit this in the largest size and it fits my foot wonderfully. Now, on with the second sock!

Secondly is Liesl. It is a gorgeous little feather and fan cropped cardigan that I knit up in 4 days.

Yarn: 3 skeins Jo Sharp Silkroad Aran
Needles: 7mm 80cm long circular

96.5cm bust measurement
Used a butterfly brooch to close the top

This yarn blocks like a dream!

Jayden just being a boy

2009-10-20T17:55:00.002+11:00

We bought a small inflatable pool for Jayden last week, and I have some photo's of him having a play in it. It's been so hot up here in Queensland, it's a great way for him to have a splash and cool down.

Here is Jayden just chilling out on the couch. Don't you love how comfy he looks?

What I have been up to lately

2009-10-17T20:26:00.002+11:00

Today I caught up with the Townsville Ravellers at the Coffee Club. It was really good, I got the opportunity to meet some knitters and crocheters from my home town for a chat and I got lots of knitting done. Bliss!

Here is a picture of me doing my two favourite things at once: Being a Mum and knitting. :) This is something that happens quite regularly, lol! Jayden was so cute, he wanted a cuddle while I was knitting my Liesl, so he hopped up on my lap and my little sister Joannabell took this photo. I love it!

Plum Fetchings

2009-10-16T10:17:00.002+11:00

I recently finished knitting a pair of Fetchings for my swap partner. They will be going in the mail very soon to make her happy, just as soon as I get a few treats ready (shhhh.....)

Yarn: 2x balls of Jo Sharp Silkroad Aran (85% Wool, 10% Silk, 5% Cashmere)
Needles: 2x 4mm Addi Turbo's
Cable Needle
Yarn needle for darning in ends
Mods: I did 4 cable repeats at the wrist and 2 cable repeats at the fingers. I also made the thumb 1 round bigger.

Many thanks to my sister Joannabell for being the perfect hand model. :)

Jayden's 2nd Birthday

2009-10-14T18:41:00.002+11:00

Jayden turned 2 this week! He started his day off with some lovely strawberry jam on toast. A boy needs his energy to start the day.

The we went down to the strand waterpark. Jayden was happy to play on the slide, cargo net and stairs.

Then they turned the water on!

It was all fun and games until the huge water bucket tipped out all over him.....

Then we went to the play park, where Jayden had lots of fun filling up his new bucket with the shovel in the sand. Then he would tip it out and start all over again.

Happy Mummy and Baby!

Jayden had a lot of fun playing on this odd looking contraption.

He went down the slide more times than I can remember.

We came home and Jayden wanted to put sugar cane mulch on the garden and in his new bucket!

Another new use for his bucket, filling it up with water and tipping it out.

See how much fun it is?

Then he had birthday cake and even blew out the candles.

Then he ate it all up. :)

Nice and Bright

2009-10-11T07:41:00.002+11:00

My Sister Joanne AKA Joannabell on Ravelry, crocheted a Multi Coloured Blanket for Jayden's 2nd birthday. As a thank you present for her, I crocheted a bag for her. I finally finished sewing on the buttons last night and I gave it to her. She loved it!

Beading and pondering

2009-10-08T16:15:00.004+11:00

Having recently splurged on some lovely pearls from the States, I thought that I'd better use them up. So, I sat down last night and made some stitch markers. These are slated for gifts and I love that they were relatively quick to whip up, once I settled on a design. These are different to the first few sets of stitch markers that I made, because my skills have developed. These have a jump ring on top as opposed to a loop of tigertail. The jump rings will fit 5-5.5mm needles.

I've recently discovered that I really love beading. I love the sense of accomplishment. It's almost as good as the buzz I get from knitting and crocheting! So I've been thinking lately that I might open up an Etsy store. What do you think? Would you buy my stitch markers?

These ones are made with seed beads, pink swarovski crystals and cultured pearls with crystals.

These ones are made from seed beads, crystals and cultured pearls with crystals.

I've also made a couple of bracelets.

This one is made of swarovski crystal keystones and seed beads. It's for my Mum.

This one is made from glass pearls and crystals and is for my Mother in Law. She loved it so much when I gave it to her, it really made my day!

A pair of pearl and crystal earrings for a dear friend. :)

Knitted Patchwork Blanket So Far

2009-10-06T21:52:00.002+11:00

I'm back from holidays! We ventured off to Adelaide and Melbourne to catch up with family. While I was away, I did a little bit of knitting, in the form of my knitted patchwork blanket. Behold!

Here is the Ravelry link to my blanket

Beads, beads, glorious beads!

2009-09-19T19:58:00.002+10:00

I've recently fallen in love with beading. I have come to realise that I love jewellery and now I can make it. :D What does a knitter make when she learns to bead? Stitch markers of course!

I want to learn to crochet something like this beautiful beaded bracelet...... with wire!

What I've been up to lately

2009-09-19T19:43:00.002+10:00

I've been learning how to crochet! I am working on a Pretty Petals Bag using 2x200g balls of BWN Luxury 8 ply in Lavender and Baby Pink. I am making 12 squares pink and 12 squares purple. I am then going to line it with a pink hello kitty fabric, because this bag isn't going to be girly enough already! LOL!

I've been test knitting for Tikki! I knitted up this lovely scarfette using 2.2 50g balls of Cleckheaton Kaliedoscope on 5.5mm needles.

I've also knitted up an Aestlight shawl with 200g of BWM Luxury 8 ply in Baby Blossom and Black yarn to contrast. I learned two new skills, double crochet and a knitted picot edging.

WIP post

2009-08-07T18:35:00.003+10:00

Another square for my blanket.

Bendigo Woollen Mills in "Pink"
4.5mm needles

Gail so far, I am up to the 2nd repeat and it's all going well.

4.5mm Knitpro circular needles
150g Hand Maiden Seasilk in "Ireland"

Full Length Fetchings

Jo Sharp Silkroad Aran Tweed in "Parisian"
2x 4mm Addi Turbo's
Mods: 15 repeats from elbow to wrist
2 repeats after thumb

3 more squares for the blanket

2009-07-25T09:31:00.003+10:00

You know the drill by now, knitted on 4.5mm needles using Bendigo Woollen Mills 8 ply luxury.

#22 Turtle Square
#24 Snowflake Square
"Extra" Square Double Crochet Stripes

I am doing an extra 7 squares, to make the blanket bigger. It's supposed to be knit in 10 ply, but I am knitting in 8 ply, due to the fact that the colours I liked were only available in 8 ply. Mmmm.

Ishbel is finished!

2009-07-25T08:57:00.002+10:00

Ishbel is finished! Woo!!

This was dead easy, I really should have done this as a “first shawl” project to get the understanding of shawl construction into my mind, instead of tackling a swallowtail first. Lol! Oh well.

Project Notes

3/7/09: Cast on.
20/7/09: Cast off.
Size: Small
Yarn: 72g of Bendigo Woollen Mills Luxury 4 ply in “Purple Storm”
Needles: 4mm Knitpro 80cm long circular

This was a really really easy knit, to the point where I was putting it down because I was bored. The stocking stitch done at the start really helped me fly through the first part. The pattern is extremely well written and would make a great first shawl project to cement the basics of shawl construction in your mind. This yarn is beautifully soft, blocks out easily and is lovely and warm.

Next two squares...

2009-07-20T19:18:00.002+10:00

I've finished another two squares for my "Knitted Patchwork Blanket".

#35 “Cables and Bobbles”
#26 “Celtic Sun”

Both squares were knit with Bendigo Woollen Mills Luxury 8 ply in "Ruby" on 4.5mm needles.

#35 was a really good learning curve. I learnt how to knit twisted stitches and bobbles.
#26 was also good. I learnt that I do not like knitting a 165cm long i-cord! Sewing the i-cord into place took forever.

2009-07-16T16:31:00.003+10:00

Ishbel: Purple Hug WIP

2009-07-14T19:34:00.002+10:00

I am currently working on an Ishbel Shawl and I am making considerable progress.

I am knitting it on an 80cm 4mm knit pro circular and Bendigo Woollen Mills Luxury 4 ply in purple.

This is going to be the smaller version of the shawl and it is going to be my warm and cuddly scarf, something nice to put around my neck to keep the chilly Wagga Wagga wind out.

I love the lace, it's easy to memorise and so pretty.

Felted Fun

2009-07-14T19:22:00.002+10:00

Over the weekend, I decided that I wanted to knit myself a larger bag and felt it. This is my big project bag, planning to use it for my knitted patchwork blanket in progress because it will be so bulky.

I knitted this bag in a day using the Fulled Lopi Tote pattern, 4 balls of Cleckheaton Gusto 10 in purple on 10mm addi turbo needles. It was seriously like knitting with rope and crayons, 10mm needles are so big and noisy! The yarn also had a habit of shedding all over me, thanks to the mohair content.

It came out quite big and my washing machine didn't really want to felt it very much. I had lots of fluff left in the machine after 3 hot cycles. I threw it through the dryer a few times. The fabric is not that dense, but the stocking stitch has closed up enough that my needles won't poke through, although I can still see the stitch definition. It's very cool. The finished bag is fluffy and soft and a perfect size for my A4 pattern folder.

Pre Felting:

Post Felting:

It sort of got shorter, not really narrower. I am happy with it.

Knitted Patchwork Blanket

2009-07-14T19:10:00.002+10:00

I have started knitting a blanket. Ok, it might be a bit crazy taking on such a huge project, but it's very special. When I first saw the pattern, it reminded me of a patchwork blanket and I fell in love.

I love it so much because every square is different, and there are a lot of skills involved in knitting the blanket that I will get to learn as I go: Fair Isle, Intarsia, different types of lace, embroidery, duplicate stitch, reading charts and more.

I have finished the first 2 squares.

Here is the pattern.

This is the first square, #36, the basketweave square. Knitted with Bendigo Woollen Mills 8 ply luxury on 4.5mm needles in "Ruby"

This is the second square, #21, the cross stitch lace square. Knitted with Bendigo Woollen Mills 8 ply luxury on 4.5mm needles in "Ruby"

Miniature Milo

2009-07-11T12:07:00.002+10:00

I was invited to a baby shower for one of the girls who I work with, and last night I realised that I hadn't knit anything up. Eeep!

I decided on this pattern after seeing one knit up in pink and falling in love with it. I knit this in about 4 hours and I am thrilled with the results. It's just so soft, cute and quick to knit. I will definitely knit this again.

Project Notes:

1 skein Sublime Baby Cashmere Merino Silk DK in White
4.5mm Addi Turbo's
Horseshoe Cable
Size Newborn

Seriously, this is how people get pregnant, touching tiny little hand knits. They make you so clucky! It's so sweet.

Jayden wanted to touch it too, so I let him. It's so soft! The best part is this yarn is machine washable! How cool is that?

Rosebuds: Lily of the Valley Border

2009-07-01T15:35:00.002+10:00

I've been knitting up a storm!

I've finally finished the Lily of the Valley Border and all of the beading - I used beads to replace the nupps in the pattern. All up, I believe there is approx. 168 beads!

I'm close to finishing now, I hope. :)

Budding lace repeats finished!

2009-06-30T15:57:00.003+10:00

My Swallowtail's grown even more now!

195 stitches on the needles, 14 budding lace repeats finished and I've swapped over to my 80cm long knitpro circular. :D

See how pretty it looks close up?

The next adventure is the Lily of the Valley Border and beading. :D :D :D

Rosebuds

2009-06-30T10:57:00.002+10:00

My little Swallowtail Shawl is growing up. *sniff* Look at how big she is getting!!!

I am almost done with the budding lace repeats, it's so pretty. It reminds me of rosebuds. :)

Next part is the Lily of the Valley border and the beading. I'm really looking forward to putting the beads on. I've found that this pattern isn't really hard, it just requires all of my attention.

Pizza!

2009-06-30T10:51:00.003+10:00

I've been rather inspired lately by Masterchef, so I decided I would make a pizza that was featured on Friday nights Masterclass. Here is my edited version of the recipe.

Pizza Dough:

15g yeast
20g sugar
20g salt
20ml oil
250ml Water
425g flour

Sauce:
1 tin chopped tomatoes
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp garlic
salt and pepper

Toppings:

Finely chopped Flat Leaf Parsley
Hungarian Salami
Pepperoni
Shredded Mozzarella
Baby Mozzarella balls

1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees Celsius and put pizza stone in oven to heat up.
2. Combine yeast, sugar, salt, oil and water and put in a warm place to activate the yeast. It was pretty cold on the day that I did this, so I put it next to the heater. :)
3. After yeast has activated, tip in the flour and stir until combined.
4. Knead the dough until silky smooth.
5. Place dough back into bowl, cover with cling wrap and put into a warm place to prove until the dough has doubled in size.
6. Open tin of tomatoes and tip into a saucepan with the oregano, basil, garlic, salt and pepper. Puree with hand held mixer, then simmer the sauce down until it is a nice consistency (about 15 minutes).
7. Knock back the pizza dough and divide into 2 portions. Roll out dough to a nice round shape. Place onto the hot pizza stone.
8. Dock the base with a fork all over.
9. Spread pizza sauce onto the base.
10. Sprinkle the parsley all over the base.
11. Add the other toppings to the base except for the baby mozzarella.
12. Put into oven for about 8-10 minutes or until cheese is melted and golden delicious. Mmmmm.
13. Decorate with baby mozzarella.
14. Eat with friends. :)
15. Make another pizza with second portion of dough, you will need it.

Meet Winona!

2009-06-27T13:43:00.003+10:00

This is Winona, isn't she cute?

I had some leftover sock yarn from my Monkey socks, and I have seen a few of these "String Gang" girls around lately, so I thought I would make one for myself. She is just made from 2 paperclips and sock yarn and a dab of glue.

In other crafty news, my Swallowtail Shawl is growing quite nicely. I finally understand how shawls work, how the increases in lace shape the shawl, the "centre stitch" dealy and how to read the pattern!

I am also making good headway with my Baudelaire sock: "The flowers of evil". It's not so hard, but boy is it pretty.

I thought I would also show off my lovely present from Kylie's competition at her blog; a socky-boxy, a needle case and a tiny little bag for stitch markers. I love love love the material that this is made of, it's so pretty.

My socky-boxy is getting good use. It's the perfect size for a small project and pattern. It goes everywhere with me. Thank you again Kylie. :D
Isn't she clever?

Post #50

2009-06-24T19:29:00.003+10:00

I've been working really hard on the Swallowtail Shawl. I have frogged this poor baby no less than 10 times now, simply because I keep stuffing it up. Oh well. Here is the latest incarnation.

Here's a little something to make you laugh. Jayden was helping me make dinner tonight, when I turned around and saw this:

Sometimes there is just no use in fighting genetics. Lol!

WIP update!

2009-06-21T22:45:00.002+10:00

I have finally started the Swallowtail Shawl! It was really sketchy to start with, resulting in me frogging it no less than 9 times, but thanks to Mamasue and her edited pattern, I am off to a flying start! The pattern finally makes more sense to me. I can easily see myself knitting this pattern in the future, with less tears.

I bought myself a pair of circular knitpro needles for this one and they are divine!!! The point is nice and sharp and it holds onto the seasilk so well. Yummy! The seasilk is such a pleasure to work with, so silky and soft. I can't wait to finish it and wear this shawl.

I have also started knitting a little car vest for Jayden's 2nd birthday. It is very repeatitive at the moment, round and round in knit, but when I get to the intarsia cars, it will be a lot of fun. I'm being very good and only using yarn from my stash for this project: 1 ginormous ball of Bendigo Woollen Mills 5 ply for the body as well as a few little bits of colour for the cars.

Again, it will look very smart when finished. I've been getting a lot of this done while watching TV.

Silk Garden Gloves

2009-06-21T22:29:00.002+10:00

I finally got around to knitting the second Silk Garden Glove!

Pattern: Noro Fingerless Mitts
Needles: 2x 40cm long 4.5mm Addi Turbo's
Yarn: 1 50 gram skein Noro Silk garden (3 grams left over)
Time: About 6 hours all together.

The first one took 3.5 hours to do. I knit it in 2 big time chunks: 1 while out with Kate for coffee and gelati, the second time chunk was while literally chasing the toddler-saurus around the house!

The second glove one I did today all in a 2.5 hour chunk while he had his nap. I put this down to practice and coffee.

I love that they are both different, but they both have the same pretty colours. My absolute favourite colour is the light pink colour on the thumb. :D

Les Fleurs Du Mal: Flowers Of Evil

2009-06-15T20:49:00.003+10:00

I've started a new project - it's Baudelaire by Cookie A. It's a toe up sock with cables and lace.

I am knitting it up using 2x 2.5mm Addi Turbo's and 2 skeins of Lorna's Laces sock yarn in the Valentine colourway. I love this yarn, it reminds me of roses, so I thought it would be perfect for an evil flower sock. ^_^ Did I mention that the lace pattern is in graph form? Yes, it is.

To the Beach!

2009-06-14T16:44:00.002+10:00

Pattern: Cable Vest
Needles: 5mm
Yarn: Knitspirations Machine Wash 12 ply in "Beachcomber" colourway
Modifications: Double crochet for V-neck and arm holes instead of ribbing

Was supposed to be for his 2nd birthday, but it was too cute to resist. I guess I could always knit him something else for his birthday. :D

My WWKIP day!

2009-06-14T15:24:00.006+10:00

We had a great turnout for "World Wide Knit In Public day".

First place we went to was the Storehouse Deli. I got to wear my lovely February Lady Sweater.

See! :)

We stayed for around 4 hours. I had 4 large latte's, 1 double ristretto and 1 Chai Tea Latte. Needless to say, I had a bit of energy to burn. Maybe it's not so surprising that I finished knitting Jayden's birthday vest. Lol!

More photo's of the vest on My Ravelry page.

I used 1/2 a ball of Knitspirations 12 ply yarn and knitted it with 5mm needles. It came out beautifully. I changed the pattern too. I was supposed to do ribbing around the neck and arm holes, but I decided to do double crochet! It turned out great.

Later on that day, we all met up at Gelatissimo for ice-cream, coffee and affogato. Because my body had decaffeinated by that time of the day, I had to have a cappuccino! We then moved on to the Indian restaurant and had our main meals. We then took a leisurely stroll up to the teppanyaki bar. We decided that we would skip the entree's and went back to Gelatissimo for more ice-cream.

Here we all are at Gelatissimo at the end of the night.

While we were at gelatissimo, Kylie gave me a little present. It's a needle case - the perfect size for a pair of knitpicks. Isn't se so clever? The mushrooms are so darling, they remind me of being a Brownie Guide. :)

All up, it was a lovely day and it was so nice to get to spend all of that time with my friends. :)

5 minutes? Mocha mug cake!!!!

2009-06-08T20:35:00.005+10:00

Does this look tempting? I made this today and it was absolutely sensational. I just had to share it all with you. It's the perfect treat to enjoy on a cold, rainy day. So print it out, put the kettle on for a cup of coffee and make this devilish treat and have it ready to eat before the kettle boils.

Mocha Mug Cake in 5 minutes

4 Tbs flour, sifted

4 Tbs sugar

2 Tbs cocoa, sifted

1 egg

2 Tbs milk

1/2 tsp instant coffee dissolved in 1 tsp boiling water

1 Tb vegetable oil

1/2 tsp vanilla essence

2 Tbs Chocolate Chips

1 Coffee Mug

Do it like this...

Put all ingredients in mug except chocolate chips and mix well. Make sure that you get all the flour from the bottom of the mug. Stir in the chocolate chips.

Put mug into the microwave and nuke for 3 minutes on full power @ 1000 watts.

Eat straight from mug with a spoon. Chocolate chips sink down to the bottom and make awesome chocolatey gooeyness.

Nom nom nom.

This recipe is too tempting to avoid, as you are basically only 5 minutes away from a warm mocha treat all the time. Best enjoyed while knitting!!! :)

Fruit Tingles

2009-06-08T11:47:00.003+10:00

Fruit Tingles!

My "Fruit Tingles" socks are finished..... both of them!!!

Project Notes:
Pattern: Monkey by Cookie A
Needles: 2x 2.5mm Addi Turbo's
Yarn: 2x 50g skeins of Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in "Winona"
Started: 1 June 2009
Finished: 8th June 2009

Apart from a few little mistakes at the beginning, this project went smoothly. I basically finished the February Lady Sweater, then started knitting these socks straight away. Unfortunately, I had the gull lace pattern stuck in my head still, and was trying to knit that while knitting the monkey lace. Oops. After 9 whole rounds, I realised why it wasn't working right and frogged it. Then I started again and it was all good again.

It's nice to have the Monkey off my back. :p

Shopping Spree

2009-06-06T12:05:00.004+10:00

Recently, I have discovered the joys of Tangled Yarns. So I went shopping. :D

50g Malabrigo lace merino baby 2 ply "Buscandoazul"
100g Araucania Ranco Multi 4 ply "310"
100g Araucania Ranco Solid 4 ply "Green"
100g Fleece Artist Seawool "Olive"
100g Hand Maiden Seasilk "Topaz"
100g Hand Maiden Seasilk "Berry"

1 set if Addi Clicks :D :D :D

This lot of shopping is aimed at shawl knitting. I am really looking forward to knitting the Swallowtail Shawl by Evelyn Clark.

Progress on my second "Monkey" sock is going well. I had to frog almost an entire pattern repeat (11 rounds to a pattern repeat) because I had made a mistake. I was doing too many yarn overs. Eeep. At least it is all perfect again and back on track. I've also learnt that I should never attempt to write out the pattern, my handwriting is too messy and too hard to read. Stick with printing it out. I am hoping to make good progress on it this weekend.

I also visited Cassidy's in Canberra and purchased 2 balls of Angora Merino. The yarn is lovely, the store and customer service is not. There were signs up in the store requesting that customers not open the bags and touch the yarn. Come on, how rude! Anyway, I am not going to harp on about it, instead I will focus on the yumminess of the bunny wool.

Mmmm, so silky and soft, you just want to pet it all the time. This is going to be a real treat to knit with. I wonder what I should knit?

February Lady Sweater is done!

2009-05-29T16:52:00.004+10:00

It's done!

Amazingly, I'm finished knitting the February Lady Sweater! All up, it took me 2 weeks.

Pattern: February Lady Sweater
Yarn: 9 balls of Jo Sharp Silkroad Aran
Needles: 1x 5mm 80 cm circular for the yoke and body
2x 5mm circulars for the sleeves
1x 6mm for bind off
Crochet hook for picking up stitches
Tapestry needle for sewing in threads (there were only 6 all up!)
Size: XS to fit 35 inch bust

I loved every part of this pattern. It is extremely well written, easy, fun, beautiful, enticing and addictive. Sometimes I just couldn't put it down! I love the way this yarn looks with the lace pattern, it reminds me of blackberries. Yummo!

FO and next project

2009-05-25T20:50:00.003+10:00

Show off time!!!!! Here is the latest project off the needles.

One Noro Silk Garden Mitt (Please excuse my dire need for a manicure.)

I knit this on 4.5mm needles with approx 1/2 skein of Noro Silk Garden. It fits like.... well.... a glove. It's perfect, warm, pretty and a very quick knit at only 3 hours. I will knit the other one soon, I promise!

Pattern found here.

After I finish the Feb lady sweater, I am planning to knit this sweetie:

It is called "Short Sleeved Cabled Pullover." I am calling it my selfish cables, just because. :p The yarn is Filatura Di Crosa "Zarina". I really like the silver colour, so I might have to see if there is any in stock at Simply Stitches this weekend. The pattern came from the 2008 Special Edition of Creative Knitting (It has a baby boy on the front, wearing a blue striped jumper).

February lady sweater update & a bit of life

2009-05-25T19:14:00.005+10:00

I am on day 9 of knitting this sweater and it's really coming along fast! I am up to ball #7 of yarn now, which is mindblowing! I have never done a project this big before, let alone knit a project like this in such a short period of time.

From 9 balls of this:

Yoke:

Body done:

Lace closeup:

Now I am on to the sleeves. Since they are knit in the round, it is a lot quicker. I am planning to knit up 1 ball of yarn per sleeve, then see how long they are. I want it to be elbow length, since when I am wearing a sweater or cardigan, I push the sleeves up anyway.

Just to prove that I do things other than knit, here's a cake that I baked on the weekend:

It's called gugelhupf. It's a German cake, therefore hubby loves it. It's rich, buttery and very very nice. Because I am also nice, I will share the recipe with you.

Ingredients:

250g unsalted butter
250g caster sugar
4 eggs, beaten
500g self raising flour
125mls milk
few drops of vanilla exxence
handful of chocolate chips
handful of sultanas

Cream butter and sugar. Add beaten eggs. Stir in flour, milk and vanilla. Stir sultanas and chocolate chips. Place into a gugelhupf pan & smooth top. Bake at 180 degrees celcius (fan forced oven) for 40-50 minutes. Dust with icing sugar and eat.

Traditionally, this is served at breakfast. In our house, this is often the case. :D

In case my weekend wasn't busy enough with knitting and baking, we took the little man around for a playdate. He had a ball bouncing on the trampoline, squealing with joy.

See his pants? They were a gift from the awesome Ali. They fit him wonderfully and they are so soft to touch. They are woolybottoms and are made from wool and cashmere. Fancy that? Cashmere for a baby! Lucky boy!

Starting the February Lady Sweater

2009-05-16T21:11:00.002+10:00

Ok, I've started reading through the pattern tonight and I am going to cast it on and get as much of it done as possible before midnight. I am determined to get this project underway now. I have set myself a deadline for finishing this project...... 12th June 2009. Why the 12th of June? I want to be able to wear it to the World Wide Knit in Public Day on the 13th of June. :D Oh yeah!!!

Alright, here's a list of all the helpful links that I've sourced. I'll need all the help I can get with this pattern.

I am knitting this in Jo Sharp Silkroad Aran in the "Quartz" colourway. It is a gorgeous purple colour... the colour I originally thought that I bought (instead of the brown yarn).

February Lady Sweater Pattern on Ravelry
http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/february-lady-sweater

Spacing increases evenly along a row calculator:
http://www.thedietdiary.com/knittingfiend/tools/IncreaseEvenlySpace.html

How to knit the best buttonhole
http://www.knittingonthenet.com/learn/bh5.htm

Raglan Maths
www.cosmicpluto.com/blog/?page_id=397

February Lady Sweater KAL group on Ravelry
http://www.ravelry.com/groups/february-lady-sweater-kal

Right, better get knitting!

Water Sprite Shorties!

2009-05-16T09:12:00.003+10:00

They're finished!!! Yay!!!

I actually finished this project last week, but I procrastinated knitting the i-cord for the waistband. I find i-cords too easy and therefore boring. Anyway, I sat down this morning and told myself that before I start knitting a new project that I have to finish an old one first. So I chose the Water Sprite Shorties. They look amazing and they fit Jayden perfectly!

Pattern: Ladybug Loops on Ravelry
Yarn: 92 grams Knitspirations 12 ply in "Water Sprite"
50 grams Cleckheaton Country 12 ply in "Sage"
Needles: 4mm and 5mm Addi Turbo Circulars (30cm in 5mm for legs and 40cm in 4mm and 5mm lengths for everything else)
5mm DPN's for I-cord
Mods: 2x2 rib waistband with eyelet holes for the I-cord drawstring. Medium rise and legs. 4 rounds of garter stitch for the cuffs.

I used every last scrap of yarn for the whole project. I finished the body, and before I started knitting the legs, I divided the yarn that I had left in half. Then I cut it and wound it into 2 balls. I knit until I ran out of yarn for one leg and then trimmed it with the cleckheaton yarn for the cuffs. Did the same for the other leg too.

Yarn shopping, planned projects and finished objects!

2009-05-15T19:32:00.002+10:00

I've been on Ravelry browsing this week and I've decided that it is time I knit something for me. I want to be able to wear something that you can't go out any buy in the shops, something that is hand crafted with love, something special.

1. February Lady Sweater - gorgeous lacy cardigan - using 9 balls of Jo Sharp Silkroad Aran for the smallest size

2. Clapotis - French lacy shawl - using 4 balls of Noro Silk Garden

3. Calorimetry - head warmer

& 4. 2nd pair of Fetching fingerless gloves - using Knitspirations hand dyed yarn in "Boysenberry Swirl".

Should be enough for Calorimetry and a pair of fetching - there's 186 grams of this!

5. Knucks - gloves with fingertip less gloves - using 1 ball of Jo Sharp Silkroad Aran Tweed

Now, in order to stop myself from changing my mind about these patterns, I went out and bought all the yarn for the projects. I think Faye was very pleased to see me today... coming in and buying up half of her store!

I've started to knit a pair of Noro Fingerless Gloves, which I promise to finish. :p I am using the pretty pink Noro Silk Garden from the last post. I started knitting them last night and they are lovely and squooshy. I did try to knit another pair of fetching with them, but the yarn has only 10% lamb's wool in it, and it was just huge. Silk behaves totally differently to wool. Can't wait to put them on my hands though... it's lovely to knit with.

I finished knitting my second Fetching glove, and they look fantastic together. The second one took less time to knit, because I already knew what I was doing. It also helps to have a big block of time free to simply knit. ;)

Speaking of buying yarn, my custom dyed Knitspirations yarn came in the mail today!!!!!!!!!!

First lot is called "Mocha". There is 250 grams of this and it is a 12 ply.

Second lot is called "Beachcomber". Again, 250 grams of 12 ply.

I LOVE how this turned out. The colours are so vivid and gorgeous. Jen did a fantastic job! I ordered this for Jayden and I am going to knit some more longies out of them...... after I knit something for me. The boy has 2 pairs of longies, 1 pair of shorties and 1 pair of soakers..... enough for now. Me, I have zero hand knitted sweaters and besides, it's getting cold. :p

I had some requests for action shots of the felted slippers from my last post. Well, here they are.

I would have taken these photo's earlier, but the slippers were still drying. They took 3 days to completely dry, they're so thick and warm!!! They fit him perfectly and will work well keeping his feet warm this Winter. The only problem is keeping them on his feet. Lol! The joys of having a toddler. :)

Finally, I leave you all with some photo's of my creative space. The place I knit is usually the computer, because all the patterns are online or on the hard drive...... so the desk gets.... adorned a little. :D Enjoy!

Like my 'decorations'? :D :D :D Thought you would!

Felted Footies

2009-05-12T07:09:00.002+10:00

I finally got around to finishing the felted slippers last night. The pattern was a really easy one, to the point where it was just getting boring.

Details:

Pattern: Felted Slippers by Midnattsol on Ravelry
Yarn: 1x 100g ball of 8 ply Cozy Wool from Lincraft in various blues and greens
Needles: 6mm - Yes, it was knitted really loosely
Time: Started 30th April, Finished 12th May

I felted these by hand, and it was much quicker than I thought it would be. I'm really pleased with how these turned out. I can't wait for them to finish drying so I can put them on Jayden.

Oh so fetching!

2009-05-10T17:13:00.003+10:00

Yesterday, I started to knit my Silver Twist gloves.

Details:

Pattern used - Fetching
Yarn used - Jo Sharp Silkroad Aran, 2 balls in "Opal" colourway.
Needles - 4.5mm Addi DPN's.
Other - Thumb cast on method

I LOVED this pattern! It was the first time that I have knit cables, and it was honestly easy peasy. I don't know why I've been putting it off for so long, it was waaaay easier than I thought it would be.

I am going to attempt to get the other one done tonight, but it is a pretty big call.

From this:

To this!!!

My silky darlings and a WIP update

2009-05-08T17:57:00.003+10:00

I went to Canberra today. Incidently, I also went to a yarn store. Oh yes! I originally went there to buy some Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran, but unfortunately they did not have any instock. Instead, I bought some Jo Sharp Silkroad Aran/10 ply. Not quite as much silk, but the yarn will hold up a lot better with wear. I am going to knit some fingerless gloves and this yarn is just sooooo soft. Yummy.

However, I was distracted by the lovely display of Noro Silk Garden, and this pretty yarn caught my eye. So I bought it too. I guess I will be making 2 pairs of gloves! I am going to knit up Fetching. Mmmmmm, fun with cables.

Noro has also released a new sock yarn, Noro Kureyon Sock Yarn, so I had to snap up some of that while I was in the store. My feet are craving some loving. They will be spoilt with this. :D I have yet to decide on a pattern.

Knitspirations has had Boysenberry Swirl stocked for a few weeks now and it has been taunting me. It arrived in the mail on Thursday, along with my free stitch markers. This one is a worsted weight/12 ply yarn. I might have to make something for myself with this yarn, as it is quite purple.

In case you were thinking that this shopping trip was all a big impulse buy, I reassure you it was not. I wrote myself a list in my phone last night. Incicently, my phone does not recognise the following terms:

Cashmerino
Merino
Microfibre
DPN
Noro

I am dissapointed in my non-yarny phone. :p I should knit it a sock to keep it warm.... perhaps then it will realise that it is important to know yarn terms. LOL!

WIP update:

I started knitting Jayden a pair of slippers last weekend, as it's been cold and I don't want his little feet to catch a chill on the tiles. Here is the first slipper. It has yet to be felted, so it is just huge at the moment! I have done about 25% of the second one and I am hoping to finish it and felt them both this weekend.

The Water Sprite shorties are coming along nicely. I have started doing the gusset, so it won't be long before they are finished too. I love the way that this yarn is knitting up, however the dye is coming off the yarn just a little bit when my hands get clammy. I have pretty blue fingertips every now and again. :D

Alright, I am getting off the internet now. I have a lot of knitting to do this weekend, so I'd better get started.

Lovely Longies action shots as promised!

2009-05-03T08:49:00.002+10:00

My Lovely Longies!

Finally, with the cooler weather we've been having, Jayden is able to wear my hand knits. :D

Projects for May & Checkmate action shots

2009-05-02T13:04:00.004+10:00

Projects for May

* Felted slippers for Jayden in Lincraft Cosy Wool 'Aqua Varigated' - One down, one to go!
* Ribbed skinny scarf for me in Jo Sharp 'Lumina'
* Tassle bag in Jo Sharp 'Lumina'
* Shorties for Jayden in Knitspirations 'Water Sprite' and Cleckheaton Country

Looks like it will be a busy month.... not too sure if I will get it all done. Working with Lumina is quite hard, as it is a slippery, slick yarn and the sequins snag like you wouldn't believe. If I can at least get these projects all started on the needles, that will be great.

**********

We had a very chilly morning today, so I decided to put Jayden into Checkmate for the first time. :)

He was trying to wriggle away and I snapped this adorable belly chub photo. Oh, if you only knew the hours I've spent kissing this chubby little belly. ;)

A nice posing photo. Amazingly, he sat still for 20 seconds!!!

I'm very impressed with how this sweater looks when it's on him. It's nice and stretchy, the shawl collar sits nice and flat and it's lovely and warm. It will definitely fit him all through this Winter. So far, he has not tried to chew on the cuffs and pull out threads. Perhaps he is past that stage?

Thank you for looking.

Lovely Longies

2009-05-01T08:14:00.002+10:00

Recently, my dear friend Kylie bought some lovely hand dyed yarn from Knitspirations. I loved it so much, that I had to check out the website for myself. I saw some beautiful yarn called "Water Sprite" in a 12 ply and instantly fell in love with it. It arrived in the mail today. :D

I am planning to knit a pair of shorties for Jayden out of this yarn, using the Ladybug Loops pattern found on Ravelry. I am also going to use some yarn from my stash for the legs and waistband.

After further drooling at Knitspirations, I decided to contact Jen to ask her to dye me up some yarn. I have asked for 2 lots of 250g.

Lot #1: Dark chocolate, milk chocolate, caramel, cream and coffee. Yummy.
Lot #2: Sandy yellow, aqua, sky blue and steel blue.

I am planning to knit more longies out of this yarn. Jayden is going to have nice, toasty warm legs this year.

With the crazy Autumn weather that we have been having, Jayden's feet have been getting quite cold running around on the lino in the house. I've been on the lookout for a pattern for a pair of felted slippers in order to keep his footies warm. I found this pattern today. I like the look of it, something I can knit without thinking about it at all. I was kinda hoping for something knit in the round.... I'm addicted to going round and round and round at the moment. :D

My finished object for this post is a pair of Ladybug loops! Last Thursday, I started to knit a pair of Longies using this pattern. I love it! I have no short row holes for the first time. Yay!!! I am definitely going to use this pattern again.

Pattern: Ladybug Loops (Ravelry)
Yarn: Bendigo Woollen Mill 12 ply "Sandstone" 30g?
Selah/Goodmama hand dyed yarn "First Love" 240g
Needles: 4mm and 5mm
Started: 23rd April, Finished 30th April
2x2 waistband ribbing, large Rise and legs, 3 needle bing off for the gusset, k2tog bind off for the cuffs. I cord drawstring.

Learning curve and yarn drool

2009-04-17T16:30:00.003+10:00

Here, have some cute toddler! Taken on a recent trip to the ANZAC park in town.

Not a whole lot of knitting related news. I have started knitting my fair isle vest, thanks to the lovely Faye for instructions last night, but I've been knitting it way too tight. I have to pull it out, go up a needle size and start again. At least by going up a needle size, I will be able to use my new Knit Picks needles. :D

It's not as hard as I thought it would be, but it is fiddly and time consuming. It's definitely not going to be a quick project. It will be a good learning experience. Here is what I've done so far:

Right side:

Wrong side:

While on holidays a few weeks ago, I went to the Bendigo Woollen Mills for some stash enhancement and yarn drooling. I finally got around to taking some photo's and uploading them.

5 ply in light brown and green
8 ply in blue, black and cream
12 ply in beige

Yarny Bits

2009-03-28T20:23:00.002+11:00

So I've been busy the last few weeks. I have finally finished the Checkmate sweater. The hardest part was sewing in the shawl collar. It looks amazing and I can't wait for the weather to cool down enough for Jayden to wear it. :) Yes, I sewed it up by myself!!! I am so pleased with how it has come out. I managed to get all the checks to line up properly and set the sleeves in evenly and neatly. YAY!

I bought myself a set of Knitpicks Harmony Straight Knitting needles, as they were ordered in to my LYS (thank you!) They range from 3.5mm to 8mm with room for more sizes. I can't wait to use them. This was my Christmas present to myself, from last year.

I've recently returned from a trip to Sovereign Hill, Bendigo and Echuca. I was told that I simply must visit the Bendigo Woollen Mill while I am there. So I did. Mwahahahaha!

I have never seen so much yarn in my life. This picture is only about 1/6th of the store. It was amazing. Needless to say, I bought a few souveniers and I am now on the mailing list. I bought:

1 200g ball of 12 ply Merino in a creamy beige colour. I am going to use it for trim yarn for when I finally knit my second set of Belladonna Longies with the Goodmama yarn.

2 200g balls of 5 ply crepe for various projects.

4 200g balls of 8 ply merino in different colours for stash expansion.

I felt like I could have bought a lot more, but I restrained myself. I have shade cards and there are new shade cards coming out in the mail in a few weeks, so I will be able to peruse them and plan projects and buy yarn accordingly. You know, sensibly? :D

Checkmate photo's and some yummy yarn

2009-03-11T13:43:00.003+11:00

The Checkmate sweater is coming along really well. I finished the second sleeve last night, now I am working on the shawl collar. The pattern is.... interesting.

Cast on 134 stitches O_o
Row 1: P1, K2 (P2, K2) 10 times, (P3, K2) 9 times, P3, (K2,P2) 10 times, K2, P1
(the first row made my mind melt, just a little bit. All that chaning in ribbing and keeping track of how many stitches to do how many times....)
Row 2: K1, P2 (K2, P2) 10 times, (K3, P2) 9 times, K3, (P2,K2) 10 times, P2, K1
(so basically the opposite of the first row.... this is how you make ribbing, duh. pretty easy since the first row is already done, you just knit the purls and purl the knit)
Row 3 & 4: Repeat 1st & second rows once more (again, easy to follow)
Row 5: P1, K2 (P2, K2) 10 times, (P3, K2) 9 times, P3, (K2,P2) 10 times, K2, P1 (row 1 again, easy)
Row 6: K1, P2 (K2, P2) 10 times, (K2tog, K1, P2) 9 times, K2tog, K1, (P2, K2) 10 times, P2, K1. You will now have 124 sts on the needle
(decreasing in ribbing.... argh!)
Next Row: P1, K2, *P2, K2, repeat from * to last st, P1
Next Row: K1, P2 *K2, P2, repear from * to last st, K1
Last 2 rows will now be referred to as 2x2 rib. Continue in 2x2 rib until collar measured 4in/10cm, finishing after as WS row.
Cast off in rib.

So, the first row was just hard to get my head around, possibly due to Miley Cyrus singing on my computer. After some intense concentration (and the song finishing) it got a lot easier. Now I am trying to wrap my head around the decrease row (row 6). Should be.... fun. I hope the phone doesn't ring, I might fly off the handle at that person who breaks my concentration. ^_^

Did I mention that once I have finished the collar, I only have to sew it all up and it done? :D

I'm already thinking about the next pattern I'm going to knit. A pair of longies with the gorgeous Goodmama yarn in the "First Love" colourway, with a big chunky cable running down the outside of each leg. Still planning the pattern in my head, lol. However, I need to buy some trim yarn first. Still deciding what colour I am going to go with, and what brand. I think Cleckheaton have just released a new range of 12 ply yarns; Wide? Sounds like a visit to Simply Stitches is in order.

You want to see photo's? Ok, you twisted my arm :P

Ok, so this is all the pieces that I have knit of the jumper... all laid out flat so that you can see how big each piece is.

This one shows what the jumper will look like after it's been put together... except the collar is not finished yet, but bear with me. It's the wee little bit on the needles, right up the top.

The Goodmama/Selah "First Love" yarn in bulky weight. OMG I love this photo. I've finally figured out how to turn off auto focusing on my DSLR and I am very happy with the results. I went 100% manual to take this photo, as my subject was nice and still, for once. (Pssst, I've been mainly using Aperture priority mode or partial Manual control, tweaking the F stops or White Balance)

For you photography techy friends:
Olympus E-420
Lens: 14-42mm (my only one for now.... *sad*)
ISO 200
F 3.9
Flash: Nevar!!!!! :p
WB: Indoor lighting (fluoroescent)
Manual focus length: 18mm
No photoshopping except for a crop and resize

The amount of fun that I had taking this photo is equal to the yumminess of the yarn. I should take photo's of my whole yarn stash, but I'm kinda lazy.

Wonderful Woolies!

2009-03-08T09:41:00.004+11:00

Beautiful Autumn weather was the perfect excuse to go the park over the last two days, so I put my little boy in the longies that I knit for him last year.

The Belladonna Longies! I love these so much. They are a little long, but they fit him well in the waist and over the cloth bum. They will fit him all Winter, and hopefully next Winter too when he is out of cloth nappies. Isn't he a little poser? :)

Checkmate update + a Christmas Jumper

2009-03-06T22:45:00.003+11:00

I took the little one to the park today to feed the ducks.

The weather is cooling down now, so today, I put the wee toddler-saurus in his Christmas jumper, lovingly knit by his Great Nanna. It is knit in 5 ply Bluebell and it is a wonderful jumper. She is a very talented knitter. :)

Now, on to my project:

This is Checkmate. I have been knitting it for a while and it is making good progress. I have completed the back, the front, 1 sleeve and 1/3 of the second sleeve. I am really hoping to have it all finished in a fortnight so that I can sew it up at our next knitting and knotting night in a fortnight. I want to be able to show my parents this sweater, as they will be here in 3 weeks. I think a few late nights for the next few nights should see it completed.

I'm already thinking about the next project. I am going to modify a longies pattern I have and make a pair of cabled longies. I am also changing the waistband a fair bit. I am going to knit the longies with a lovely bulky weight variegated yarn, so they should be fast.

Or, I could knit myself a cabled pair of ankle socks. I have almost a whole ball of rainforest green variegated opal sock yarn that has been begging to be knit up. I don't have a pattern, but I am imagining some possibilities. A nice twisted rib around the ankle, straight into knitting the heel flap and a decorative cable that runs all the way down to the tippy toes. Maybe I should try to make my own pattern? :D Am I being creative enough..... lol!!!

What do you think? Socks first or longies first?

Happy first knitting birthday!

2009-02-22T16:21:00.003+11:00

To think, I had just started knitting this time last year.

I've learnt a lot in the last 12 months. I've knit a scarf, a baby cardigan, a beanie, 5 socks (2 Eleanor, 2 baby sized and one monkey), booties, a bag, an MP3 player case, soakers & longies. I have projects that I have started and abandoned, frogged, changed my mind about. I have a library of books and magazines. I've cast on, knit, purled, yarn overed, increased, decreased, patterned, felted, dropped stitches, cursed, picked up stitches, sewn up, kitchenered, 3 needle bound off, joined, laced and cast off. I've made some great friends.

I talk about knitting all the time on my other blog. I have my online friends asking me for knitting pattern help and advice on yarn and needles. I still feel like I have a lot to learn. My next pattern should be more creative, something incorporating cables or colourwork but I really want to knit a pair of ankle socks. I have grand plans to knit an argyle vest one day, and I'd love to knit cabled longies too. One day in the future. :D

I am currently knitting a sweater for Jayden. I only have a few more rows to go and I'll have finished the front. I put in some serious hours on Thursday and Saturday and it is starting to show now.

Baby Socks!

2009-01-31T16:19:00.002+11:00

I finished the baby socks! These were knit on two 2.5mm circular Addi turbo's using a fraction of a skein of opal sock yarn in the rainforest colourway. Seriously, the skein was 100 grams, and I have enough sock yarn left over to knit myself a pair of ankle socks. I will probably really do this, as I love the colour of the yarn so much. I am really enjoying knitting socks, as I get better and faster at picking up the gusset stitches for every sock I knit. Just because they were baby sized didn't make them any easier to knit. I actually think that they took almost as long as an adult sized pair of socks, simply because the sock is smaller and requires more concentration. I am very pleased with how these turned out. I really love the way that the yarn patterned differently for each sock. I was asked if I minded that the socks don't match and I said "Nope, they are handknit". This just makes them more special. :) So now, on to what I know you are all waiting for.

Now that these are finished, maybe I can get back to knitting "Checkmate" for Jayden. Is it too hot to be knitting a sweater? Maybe I will knit some more socks.

Some FO's, WIP's and a general update

2009-01-19T07:38:00.002+11:00

My baby boy has decided to sleep in, and I awoke early this morning, so I have had heaps of time to upload photo's of all the projects I have been working on lately.

No further progress has been made on checkmate, although my fingers are itching to work with some 8 ply yarn again.

My latest WIP is a pair of baby socks for my friend Sharon. Her baby Eli is 1 week old today. I have completed 1 sock, and to prevent second sock syndrome, I have already cast on the next one and have done 1/3 of the leg already. I am using a ball of Opal sock yarn in the "rainforest" colourway and knitting the socks up on a pair of 2.5mm addi turbo's. I am just using a free pattern from Ravelry that has 2x2 ribbing all the way around the leg and then the ribbing continues right down to the toes. They knit up relatively quickly, mainly because the length is so short.

I knit a creative critter cozy for DJ. Sort of like an ipod sock, but it's not for an ipod. I made the pattern up from scratch. :D I knit the cozy with 2.5mm addi turbo's and 4 ply bamboo. I loved the feel of the bamboo while I was knitting it, although it was a little prone to splitting and very slippery. Maybe next time I will use a bamboo blend to overcome the extreme slipperyness.

Oh, the next update is all of the wonderful amigurumi critters that my little sister has been crocheting for Jayden. She did a lot over the Christmas period. My bookshelf is almost full of critters now! Just look at how crafty she is. :D

Checkmate progress

2009-01-13T08:37:00.002+11:00

The latest project is Checkmate! I love this pattern, it's easy to follow, but it just looks so effective. I am using 8 ply Cleckheaton Country in Sage, and the pattern estimates I will use around 5 balls. I am knitting to gauge on 4.5mm needles. I am making this in the 1-2 years size and I have just finished the back.... and it is huge!

Belladonna Longies!

2008-12-22T19:02:00.002+11:00

As promised, the Belladonna longies!

Knit on 4mm Addi's and 5mm Birch circulars. The waistband is adjustable, and has 2 buttons sewn on the inside, and has buttonhole elastic through the waistband. Tricky! The cuff is two stripes of moss stitch. The pants are pretty big, but that was how I planned them. He isn't going to be wearing them until June! I ended up using 2 balls of cream, 2 balls of black and 2 balls of grey Cleckheaton Country 12 ply.

Update

2008-12-17T19:47:00.002+11:00

My friend received her purple baby bootees. She and her hubby loved them. I can't wait for little Scarlett to be born so I can see her wear them.

It seems a lot of my friends are having babies, and asking me to knit something for them. My friend Claire is having a boy in 4 months, and would like something for Junior. My friend Sharon is having a boy in February and has requested a hat for little Eli. So I will be on Ravelry a lot over the next few days so that I can choose patterns. :D

My Belladonna longies are going well. I have done the tricky waistband, all of the body, the gusset and almost the whole left leg. I have 8 rounds of moss stitch to do on the leg, then I can bind it off and do the next leg. It should go even faster than the first leg. :D The pattern is pretty good, I haven't really had any major problems. I've learnt how to do a 3 needle join, how to do a M1L and M1R increase, how a gusset is made and how it works, and how not to do a short row again. For some reason, when I wrap the stitch after doing a short row, one side of the short row ends up closed, and the other doesn't? I wrap the stitch on either end.... so....?? So I have a few little holes to sew shut.... no biggie.

I have used 4.5mm and 5mm needles and Cleckheaton 12 ply yarn in black, grey and cream. Pictures to follow.

Saartjes Bootees

2008-11-24T08:43:00.003+11:00

So cute!!!!! These took about 4 hours total, but due to limited spare time, that 4 hours was spread out over a week. Lots of fun. :D

I've finished knitting this pair of baby booties for my friends little girl. Miss Scarlett is due to be born late January/early February and I promised my friend ages ago that I would knit her something. There is something that is so nice about baby knits. It could be that the smaller something is, the cuter it is, or the fact that you are hand making something for a newborn.... either way it was awesome fun. One skein knits are like a sugar rush, they make you so happy so quickly, then they are all over and done with. I miss small knits.

Anyway, I knit these using a pair of 4.5mm bamboo needles and 1/2 a skein of Cleckheaton Country 8 ply yarn in Lavender. They were super easy and fun. I will be popping down to the post office today and sending these all the way to the UK.

Oh and my friend doesn't know what I am knitting for her.... it's a surprise. I hope she likes it.

This is also the first thing that I have knit for someone other than myself and Jayden. I am so pleased that they turned out so well.

Curly Purly Soakers

2008-11-07T08:48:00.002+11:00

I finished the Curly Purly Soakers for Jayden. The pattern was bit vague in places, but I have an excellent interpreter. :) Next time I knit these, I will skip the short rows. I used 3.5mm, 4mm and 4.5mm addi turbo's and Cleckheaton 8 ply yarn (possibly 2 balls in total). These were fun to knit, once I really got stuck into it. I knitted the largest size and the fit great.

http://www.curlypurly.com/pattern.html

A finished object!

2008-10-16T09:42:00.003+11:00

See my Monkey? Hee hee hee. Currently I only have one. I do not have second sock syndrome, I just have something else that I need to knit more.

I am starting a pair of Curly Purly Soakers for Jayden. He needs them so that we don't have a very soaked baby. They are going to be light blue around the waist and the body is navy blue. I am being really really good and using yarn from my stash for this project *gasp*

My little man turned one on Sunday. Please enjoy this picture of him enjoying his birthday cake.

Knitting FO's +1 WIP

2008-09-29T11:50:00.004+10:00

Well, since I have some time, I will do a big knitting update.

I am currently working on Monkey. Awesome sock pattern by the wonderful Cookie A. I am using 2 x 2.5mm Addi Turbo circular needles and Lorna's Lace Shepherd Sock Yarn in colourway Winona. It looks pretty. I am currently up to the foot. I am hoping to finish it in the next 2 days. If I set a deadline, then I am more motivated to do it. Lol.

I finished knitting Eleanor. A lovely lace sock pattern. I used 2 x 3mm Addi Turbo circular knitting needles and Lorna's Lace Shepherd Sock yarn in colourway Raspberry Ice. I like how it turned out, but they are a more slouchy sock than a tightly fitted sock. Still, I have worn them times, washed them in the washing machine, dried them in the dryer, and they still fit. No felting, thanks to the nylon content in the yarn.

My fiance's Nanna knitted Jayden a cardigan in Paton Bluebell Merino. It is just gorgeous. I had to post a picture of it so that you can all appreciate how nice it is. It is done in moss stitch all over, with cables on the front, back and sleeves. She is so talented!

My sister taught herself to crochet while I was at home on holidays. I told her to look stuff up on youtube, and she learnt everything to do with crochet from there. She's a clever thing! She is obsessed with amigurumi, thanks to my suggestion.

Now for pictures!

Monkey - WIP
One Eleanor...

Two Eleanor!
The fron of the cardigan....

The back of the cardigan!

Felted bag!

Amigurumi Octopus

Amigurumi Penguin

Knitted then felted bag

2008-07-18T14:47:00.000+10:00

I have finished the knitted and felted bag that I was working on. I was able to felt it in my parent's front loading washing machine.... yay! It turned out really well. It was knitted to a 40cm length, and it felted down to a 22cm length. The yarn also faded quite a lot. It's more of a pastel colour instead of being nice and bright, but I am quite happy with how it turned out.

This was the bag after I finished knitting it.

This was the bag after I felted it the first time

This is the bag after felting it for the second time

Yarn shopping, Jayden and Knitting Projects

2008-07-08T18:17:00.001+10:00

So I've been shopping. There was a sale on at Simply Stitches, so I bought up on the yarn. Jayden's Great-Nanna is going to knit him a jumper using this lovely yarn. It is Paton's Bluebell 5 Ply Merino, and the colour is Deep Blue. I have 10 balls!!!! Yum.

This is the yarn that I am using to make my A-Line Tunic. It is Jo Sharp Lumina in colour Chrystal. It is an 8 ply equivilent. I have to get around to finishing it. I'll be taking it with me on holidays. Hopefully I get time to finish it. It uses 6 balls.

Here is the progress of my knitted then felted bag. I love the contrast between the indigo and the purple. I am using a spotlight brand of yarn called Harvest Pure Wool. I am using 3 balls. The indigo part of the bag is 1 whole ball knitted up. I can't wait to finish knitting it, so I can felt it.... then maybe I'll get back to work on the tunic.

Here is a picture of Jayden from the other day when he was super happy and laughing at everything that we did. He's very close to standing by himself.... all he has to do is let go.

Knitted then felted bag

2008-07-01T12:46:00.003+10:00

I have started a new project. It is a knitted, then felted bag. It's done with three balls of pure wool, 1 Indigo, 2 Purple. I am starting it on a set of 4mm double pointed needles, then when I am done with all the increases, switching over to 2 circular 4mm needles (my new Addi turbo's) to finish it quicker. Hopefully I get it done before I go on holidays in a week and a half, but I am not fased if I have to take it with me to finish. I am planning on using this as my sock knitting bag, since it is going to be quite small by the time it is finished, but it should hold 2 small balls of yarn, a sock in progress and the circular knitting needles. No photo's of what it is going to look like, but I am hoping to have it done really soon. Also, my Lorna's Lace yarn came in the mail yesterday.... I am so impressed with it. It's going to be a lot of socks.... mmm... socks.

Supplies for the bag

Work In Progress

MY Lorna's Lace!!!!

Been Shopping

2008-06-22T17:40:00.003+10:00

New purchases.

16 pairs of "Addi" circular knitting needles. I have 2 pairs of each of the following:

2mm, 2.5mm, 3mm, 3.25mm, 3.5mm, 3.75mm, 4mm, 4.5mm

I also have 2 skeins of each of these yarns coming! Lorna's Laces Sock Yarn.

ICEHOUSE

VALENTINE

WINONA

RASPBERRY ICE

I cannot wait until they get here so that I can make some lovely socks. I have enough to make 4 pairs of socks for myself.

The Cool Beanie

2008-06-18T14:23:00.004+10:00

Finished knitting the cool beanie pattern from Ravelry.

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/robins-egg-blue-hat

I used 1 & 1/2 balls of cream coloured yarn: Paton's "Inca" 12 ply. I used 6mm straight needles, 6mm circluar needles and a set of 4 6mm double points.

This was heaps of fun! I would do it again. It only took me 5 days, and even then it was because I had to go out and buy 6mm dpn's! (Then learn to use them lol.)

The little blue cardigan

2008-06-16T15:24:00.000+10:00

Ok, this was my first ever project. It was a nice little cardigan in size 9 months. I used 4mm needles for this, and 6 balls of Cleckheaton Country light blue pure wool yarn. The pattern was taken from "10 simple knits in 8 ply" by Cleckheaton. It took me about 9 weeks to complete it, due to the fact that I had to learn every skill as I went, and it was unpicked and re-knitted a fair bit. I am happy with the end result.

Here it is in stages:

The front 2 pieces and the back

The front sitting on top of the back, with the sleeves folded in half

Completely sewn up!

Jayden and I... Jayden wearing the nice cardigan.