Good Reads, Knitting, Liberty and Summer Days

Ah January..how I do love long lazy days at home.  I might love them even more this year now that we have aircon (LOL)

It has been a wonderful break.  Lots of knitting! I decided to step out of my comfort zone and embrace colourwork.  I got the Strange Brew book towards the end of last year and I have to say it really is an excellent resource and has made first attempts kind of fool proof.  After a couple of Strange Brew Hats I've been playing with the Fearless Fair Isle Pattern on ravelry.  Colourwork is so great for using up little scraps!  I think I am a bit addicted.

"Fleet" and a Fearless Fair Isle original both out of scraps!

I made "Kind" slippers for Mum and Gubby for Christmas - now I want to knit a couple of pairs in chunky homespun!

I have signed up for two stash busting challenges in an attempt to get wool out of stash.  One runs for a whole year and focusses on using what you have pattern wise too so rest assured that I will be popping in to show you what books I have been knitting out of from time to time.  I have just started a pair of 5 ply socks (Patons Bluebell in a lurid shade of purple - which I am certain would survive a nuclear explosion but is really not enjoyable to knit with) using Ann Budd's fabulous "Getting Started Knitting Socks" book.  I have been knitting socks for quite a while now but I do like that she gives patterns for all different gauges of yarn, perfect for my AKWAK knitting.  There is also some playing with sideways mittens patterns for AKWAK and I am waiting patiently for some non 30 or 40 plus days to finish the sleeve on my Isla cardigan.  Currently I have knitted more than 2000 yards since January 1st.  Even my non-knitting husband was quite surprised by that - he said "Basically you've knitted to the roundabout and back!"

The hot weather and long holidays have also meant lots of reading time.  I started with Clara Parkes "A Stash of One's Own" which was thought provoking and funny and just fab holiday reading.
We've had a few library trips so I have also enjoyed The Tatooist of Auschwitz (beautifully written so as not to be too heavy despite the subject matter), Four Seasons with a Grumpy Goat (a memoir about a tree change in Tasmania - light and funny), The Room on Rue Amelie (sad and beautiful love story set in World War II) and Little Gods (by a Melbourne based author Jenny Ackland - this one was really special, a vivid portrayal of an Aussie childhood - similar style to Tim Winton without being quite so prosey, thoroughly enjoyable)

The heat has really been knocking my garden around - my mornings are filled with buckets and hoses and cursing our terrible irrigation system.  There will be casualties.  The upside is that the heat has attracted common brown butterflies to the hebe.  There has been a kaliedoscope of butterflies for the last 3 weeks.  They are just beautiful!

Last but not least I wanted to show you a special gift I received from 2 lovely friends before Christmas.  They knew I was feeling down about not being on staff at kindy next year and wanted to cheer me up.  I have only ever been gifted one other quilt, made for me when I left Melbourne (leaving another job I adored) by the talented Jenny Grierson.  This second special quilty gift was carefully chosen to include brown shot cotton and..liberty..after a conversation where I had wistfully suggested that I would never have enough liberty to make a quilt.  Such a special gift and I love it so much. Thank you Kirsty and Narelle.  It still makes me smile every day!

So now we have hit that crazy point in the holidays where there is still so much to do and not enough time to do it in.  Before we know it school will be back and we will pick up the thread of our "normal" lives.
Happy last week of holidays to you!
Keep smiling,
Nell

The kids have been delightful this holidays - disappearing into the kitchen to make wonderful creations together!

Spring Finishes!

Oh Spring is in the air and the last three days of sunshine have lifted spirits and blown the cobwebs away.  I've even had the kids Spring Cleaning and decided to rearrange my craft room!
In the midst of the Spring fever I finally finished my  http://www.ravelry.com/projects/nelliebligh/curly-wurly-gloves
and I love them sooooo much! Jude is an awesome local designer (remember the Vivonne Bay Hat?) http://www.ravelry.com/projects/nelliebligh/vivonne-bay-hat-2
and this is her latest effort.  This pattern taught me soooo much and now I can read charts a whole new world of knitting has opened up!

There has also been another two little cardigans from the "One" pattern (also on my rav page)

And I have been mucking about with a bit of my own semi-designing using a bit of a mix and match technique to come up with a soft little lace edged cap for one of the kindy newborns (angora bunny/merino mix - soooo soft and smooshy)

Now I have to get back to sorting out my craft room in time for this week's workshop!
Happy Spring!

Spinning, and Knitting, and Baking to beat the Winter Blues

Well it is Tour De Fleece time again and that means spinning everyday that the bikes are in motion.  We are all most nostalgic for all things French at the moment as it is two years exactly since our Paris sojourn.  The weather has turned decidedly icy so a fair bit of time has been spent baking, spinning and knitting and scrapping indoors.

Yay for crafty goodness!

Winter Weather Equals Knitting

Funny how the minute the weather turns a knitting frenzy sets in.
I find myself klick clacking most days even if it is just a row or two while waiting.
Our Guild has Open Day next weekend so there has been some last minute knitting for that as well as some finishing of projects.

This is the Olivia Cardigan from Nikki Van De Carr's beautiful book "What to Knit The Toddler Years" - a joy from start to finish, handspun angora/merino from Ixchel Bunny.  This makes me want another little girl just to see her wearing it (don't worry - not about to happen LOL)

Hannah's Vivonne Bay hat (after the first one was a bit snug and snaffled by Maddie) This is such a great pattern (free on Ravelry from my talented friend Jude) This is knitted in possum/merino and I had less than two inches of yarn left.  Nothing like yardage chicken to get your heart racing.

And this is a Katia Park Avenue scarf destined for the Guild table.  I do wish this girl would stop growing up.  We've just had early birthday celebrations with her two besties and I was surprised at how grown up their conversations are getting.  So not ready to head into the teen years yet.

All of these projects can be found on my ravelry page (where I seem to hang out a fair bit these days!)

Happy knitting!

Knitting and Plum Cake..

I've been busy making stuff.  Lots of knitting lately.  My last 3 projects I have flirted with the yardage chicken and lost every time.  Note to self: do not be so impetuous and actually weigh yarn and do yardage before you cast on.  Anyhow: there has been a Quaintly, and then a test cowl, and now I am onto knitting this lovely shawl as a KAL.  I will be doing another test knit cardigan next week when some suitable wool arrives from Bendigo (note to self: do not even look at 10ply patterns when you have no 10ply in stash!)

 Isn't my big girl growing up?  She so desperately wants to be older than she is, while I (of course) want her to stay little for ever.  Look at those green eyes - enormous.

I got quite a lot done on this while I was at the hairdressers today.  It struck me that sometimes even grey hairs have a silver lining.  More grey hairs means more knitting time.  Seriously though, most of my knitting time each week is squeezed into karate, kid's appointments and time spent waiting so I am really glad to have the opportunity to knit!

Our plums have had a bumper crop this year - laden, the branches sinking low to the ground.  We have had plum jam, stewed plums, dehydrated plums, and now, thanks to www.foxslane.blogspot.com plum cake.  This http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/16131/upside+down+plum+cake has fast become my new favourite cake, not the least because it generally leaves a few little crusty, plummy bits around the side of the tin for the cook to eat while it is still steaming and oozey.  So good.  Today, I made two of them and because I was home alone I even got to lick the beaters. Life is good my friends, very, very good, and for the simple things I am profoundly grateful.

Friday Fun with CTMH

I have been playing with the Brushed Workshop on the Go pack in preparation for tomorrow's workshop.  I love the sayings in this stamp set (I can see it getting a LOT of use!)  Maddie had fun getting inky with me too and I had to laugh when I was getting her all set up to stamp because she said "Yes Mum, you better set me up with a stamping station".  Later on she asked me for a "one inch block because this stamp is soooo little!"  She just cracks me up.  Too grown up for words sometimes!
This first layout is straight out of the Workshop on the Go kit and the second is an adaptation from the Make it From Your Heart Book Volume 2 Pattern 2.  This book is so good for when you need a bit of inspiration, and a total bargain at only $10.

I also finished off Seb's little bear to go with his cardi set.  It was from out of the Better Homes and Gardens Knitting Book.  Very easy and quick and a great stash buster for leftovers (the cream wool is 2 strands of 4 ply left over from Hannah's baby layette!) so I think I might be making a few more of these when I no longer have knitting deadlines LOL  Making good progress on Maddie's cotton version of the Longfellow Garden Cap Dress - almost up to separating out the sleeves so that will happen tonight I hope.

Happy Friday Folks!

xxx

oops!

Oh dear! I am failing miserably at my Close To My Heart Friday blogs.  So this one is a day late and last weeks never happened.  I have been playing with the November Stamp of the Month which is a lovely open ended flower design.  This one is very versatile and super user-friendly.

I have also been doing a bit of knitting.  I finished my lace shawl "Nightfall in Paris" which is one of my friend Nim's designs.  Then I finished a test knit hat and a sweet little test knit dress using some of my oldest stashed yarn.  Then today I finished a little cardi set for my friend Lou's newborn son Sebastian.

 Not sure how to link them here but they are all on my ravelry projects page.  One thing I am noticing through my Julie and Julia project is that I do use my craft books (definitely more knitting than sewing ones) but I also use ravelry more - which probably means that I need to limit my craft book collection only to books that I know I will use!

I have been crazy busy at work and next week is set to be a crazy week too so I am already thinking ahead to a simpler 2015!

Kick the Bucket and Julie and Julia

You could be forgiven for thinking I dropped off the end of the planet.  In actual fact life has just been crazy busy with kindy and that has left little time for crafting or blogging.  I did, in fact, finish 3 big projects in 3 months, as well as a host of other little crafty projects tucked into an hour of knitting at karate, or a few moments stolen while waiting on appointments/kids/etc.  My amazing quilty friends organised a whole weekend of sewing at Port Elliot - it was bliss!  I got soooo much done! So this is the world's ugliest quilt finished:

This will become an 80th birthday present for my Nanny who has Alzheimers and won't even know what day it is :(

Then there was this wall hanging which was started at Jane's Christmas in July Gathering when I was pregnant with Maddie!  I love how this one turned out, especially as I am not a fan of satin stitch.  This is a Leanne Beasley pattern.

The last quilt is Lena's but I do have a small bit of finishing to do on it this morning before I show it off. There was also this little cardigan for baby Mike, the pattern is from Joelle Hoverson's "More Last Minute Knitted Gifts"

 I sent it up to him with a little woodland knitted hat and then this photo showed up on facebook - how cute is he!?!?

 There was also lots of rav pattern knitting - 2 pairs of calypso mitts

 and a Merrit for my friend's birthday:

All three projects were handspun - quick and fulfilling.  I also finished James' Jedd socks for Father's Day.  Then there was some test knitting for this cowl, Cloud 9.  I really like this one and think that both the girls will probably get their own smaller versions for Christmas.  The lace repeat is only about 17 stitches wide and every second row is purl so it is kind of a cheat's lace.   I also have a bit of a think for moss stitch and double moss stitch so that was a win win too!

Next on the to do list are a couple of bigger projects for me (Paris Cardi and a green cardi) and a couple of hats for Nessie's girls.  Next up for quilting is a Dr Seuss baby quilt for Lou and a bed sized version for Dan.  Luckily, holidays are just around the corner!

Mastering the Sock

I have knitted about 8 pairs of socks on circular needles now and every single pattern I have tried has needed tweaking or fudging or frogging, and required some cussing and ripping back and staring cross-eyed at the pattern.  Not anymore.  Enter Cat Bordhi's "Socks Soar on Two Circular Needles" - I have just finished the "Simple Sock" for James, out of the most beautiful "Jedd" colourway from Moseley Park.  This is quite possibly the most perfect bit of knitting I have ever done - no fudging, no cussing.  A joy to knit.  That makes me ridiculously happy.

There has also been a lot of spinning for the Tour De Fleece.

And yesterday I managed to finish quilting the world's ugliest UFO and I will stitch down the binding on it Wednesday night at sewing!

Tomorrow is the very last day of holidays - one more day of sleeping in, cooked brekkies and slow paced days.

Kick the Bucket and Julie and Julia

There has been lots of frenzied crafting here after the boy announced that we would holiday at the beach all of this week.  I have finished the Nokomis test knit (and this pattern has been released on Rav)  It is a super quick and super easy sweet little knit (and best of all Mads loves it and wants to wear it!)

I also finished the Gruffalo Hat in time to wear to the forest with kindy.  I am claiming that as a Julie and Julia project as I modified the polar bear hat from the book "Animal Hats" which is making its way into my library as we speak!

And then there was some hurried finishing on this little guy.  My friend started this Melly and Me "Dilbert" pattern a long time ago.  She did all the hard work and then gifted it to me to finish.  As she has a new little grandson I finished it to give to him. Tick that one off the Kick the Bucket list.

Just lately I have been VERY naughty in adding to fibre and fabric stashes so I am cold sheeping/stash busting for a while to make up for it.  

 Of course part of that means spinning up all of the "little" and random bits that I have accumulated - like this blue/black that I aquired in a swap.

It is "Tour De Fleece" at the moment so I am trying to spin as often as I can while that is on.

And, of course, next weekend is my consultant and friends scrapping retreat so there is a bit of crazy packing going on too!

Life is never dull when you are busy LOL

Have a great week folks!

Test Knits and a bit of Op shopping

I have never been a "test" knitter.  Mostly because I think that even though I have been knitting for a long time I am a very slow knitter (and most test knits have a tight deadline) and I am also quite a simple knitter (maths hurts my head and I knit for relaxation not mental gymnastics) which of course is why I took it into my head to sign up for 2 test knits within a few days of each other (and in the same month that I am supposed to be knitting a silly cow onsie for my soon to be niece or nephew!)  I know! I am hopeless!

Anyhow, the first test knit is a lovely shawl pattern from Nim Teasedale over at www.littlehouseonthehill.wordpress.com  I am knitting it in a scrummy 4ply merino/cashmere from www.kathysfibres.com

There was a child-wrangling incident which resulted in some frogging and starting over and the second time around I was distracted and cast on 4 stitches instead of 7.  Not to worry.  I have finished the garter stitch middle and am ready to fudge the final row count to start the lace section.

The second test knit is the Nokomis Tie Strap Summer Dress by Jenni Lansing.  I love this pattern. So simple and sweet even if I did have to let little Miss choose her own colours.  I am not anticipating that this one will be too much of a problem as it is stocking stitch and seed stitch (should be a perfect vege out project).  

There is also a Gruffalo hat in progress (hopefully finished this weekend) for our kindy excursion to the forest.

Yesterday, in between my to do list, I found myself parked right outside my favourite Op shop with no kids.  A quick dash inside produced a couple of vintage hankies, 3 winter coats and a long sleeved shirt, and this sweet little trio of dishes which I think will be perfect for chutneys, tea bags, and jam with scones.  They are made in Japan, but as I get older I am getting less snobbish about that.  I also couldn't go past the 50c blue jug.  That brings the collection to 5 (oops) and I shamelessly think that there will probably be more in my future.

And now, after a busy week, it is Friday.  My favourite day of the week.  Roll on a cruisy crafty weekend.

Julie and Julia Project and First Mixed Warp

Finally finished this raglan cardigan from 60 Quick Baby Knits.  I have to say that it wasn't quick and the sleeves seem too skinny and all up I am just not that happy with this one.  I think I am becoming a top-down convert.

Also finished this hat and mittens:

 Really chewing through the homespun at the moment which feels good and like a reason to spin up lots more when the Tour De France starts (we have a spin-along on Ravelry)

The kids and I had fun warping up another scarf this weekend with a few different yarns for the warp and a handspun multi-colour for the weft.  It was fun to see the colours play out.

 

 Hope you are enjoying the unseasonable sunshine of these late Autumn days!