kelgellcreations

sunday sharing--week 4

2012-02-05T17:00:00.002Z

Lots of people drawing this week. While I don't really like drawing people because I find it difficult, I've either improved a bit or I've relaxed about the end result. I think it helps that I've begun experiencing different styles of drawing rather than trying to draw perfect detail. Some have just been an interesting experience--like drawing people in motion. This drawing is my choice of the week: Boys on fence in ink.This task was to draw a group of spectators. I drew this early in the week on a day I knew I was to work a full day. I rose early so I could get my drawing done. I was very pleased with how it turned out. Taking care to match the size and preportions. Usually I don't particularly like drawing in ink either. It's so final and so fine but I must be getting the hang of it a bit. I tried not to worry about too much detail. In particular the colour of clothing. I like that I scribbled in their shoes/boots though. Adds a nice touch. Other than that it's just a tad of shading and enough detail to explain the shapes.

I'm also pleased that I got through another week (with the boy I care for being sick and grumpy meaning some longer days for me) and managed again to draw every day. Woohoo. That being said, I'm taking a week off. I'm spending the last half of this week on a holiday in Iceland--if London's snow doesn't distrupt my flight.

white swan migrated to Australia

2012-02-01T19:51:00.004Z

Hello young chap!This sweet little white swan, which turned out not to be as little as intended, was hooked together and stuffed for my sweet little baby niece who arrived a couple of weeks ago. Another wing-it, I frogged and reworked the beak numerous times trying to get the size better and the black part right. I moved on hooking and stuffing as I went making it all up as I progressed. I had just finished the waddling feet which will be a fun feature for little fingers to grab when I heard little Elizabeth had finally arrived. I sewed on the last features, including embroidered black eyes and did a final photo shoot.
I didn't do wings like I had imagined mainly due to finishing off the cute little tail with just enough end to weave in. So this little white swan migrated south via royal mail. I chose to make a white swan because I'm here in the UK where plenty live and my darling little niece is home in Australia where our swans are black. It's a little symbol of this moment in time. Also I had the colours already stashed. Wish I could give her a cuddle with my real arms. She'll grow and develop so much before I get home.

Give her lots of snuggles for me, young chap.

sunday sharing -- week 3

2012-01-29T12:57:00.006Z

I was doing my own little celebration jig when I returned home from sketching at a cafe yesterday. After the first two weeks of this six week "one drawing a day" book course, I whipped myself into gear and drew EVERY day. I even did any extra drawing session just because I felt like it. I'm quite satisfied with my efforts this week.

Not only did I draw every day but I felt like I made some progress. I didn't always stop with one drawing. Sometimes I redrew a few times and happily saw improvements. I also sometimes saw none really but didn't let my mind make a failure out of it. I drew. That's what was important. My favourite of the week is this one.
The task was to make a quick, undetailed sketch of a local landmark with water soluable crayons, spray water over it and do a press with absorbant paper. I decided to give it a go with my inktense blocks. It was the best match I had for watersoluable crayons. They are basically a block of ink but mixed with some other stuff to make it slightly pastel like for sketching. You can add water like you do with waterpaints but being ink it's more final in result. I only have four basic colours from a sample pack.

The idea was to choose just two or so colours to work with and sketch a rough idea. I did my best with the water sprinkling/soaking and paper pressing/dabbing. I'm not sure inktense blocks work the same though. I tried two other sketches before this one of Tower Bridge but it was Big Ben that got me smiling. Just a few features that identify it in sketchy scribble design.

Another example of progression for this week is from this 'day'. An abstract reflecting lines and colours of the subject with a few features to sort of identify it. The above "Carousel" is the example from the book. My efforts are below on the subject of a clown ball game at a fair.

The first picture was my first attempt. After completing it I felt that it was still too detailed so I had another go. The bottom one I was satisfied with. More abstract; the one main clown to identify had less detail. I also added in some other elements that made me think of this clown game. Random circles for the balls, some cog shapes for the mechanics and the spray of colour at the top left for the spritz of a win. While I was satisfied with my effort in acheiving the idea, I'm not really a fan of such abstract art. I like it to look either like just a spread of colour or like an actual picture of something. Not that wierd inbetween state.

irish soda bread

2012-01-24T20:03:00.003Z

I tried a new recipe from the same recipe book that I made Curried Banana soup last week. (One of those 'too bizarre NOT to try' which was interesting but not fabulous though I've since discovered it works better as a cold dip.) While I was in Ireland I had some Irish Soda Bread and I thought it was really yummy. Heavier than the average bread you buy from the supermarket but I like that. I bought the necessary ingredients last week and so I've been looking forward to making it for a few days. Tonight I thought it would make a delicious tea alongside a bowl of soup.

So today while the boy ate his tea, I baked my first handmade loaf of bread.

The recipe explained at the beginning about where it came from and it said that the 'measurements' where rough estimations. Handfuls of this ingredient, dash of that... Made me smile. Sounds so homely. The lady kindly worked out the measurements to be able to put it in a book. However, the 'throw in' method is my kind of style. So while I did get the scales out I scooped out handfuls and blobs into my bowl. I also measured out the 450ml of buttermilk because I had two 278ml pots. Odd amount. (I figure it's about half a pint.) I added some extra flour too because I was pretty sure that 'mix into a dough' meant it shouldn't be sticking to the sides of the bowl and all over the spatula. I then shaped it and scored it and popped it in the oven.

Just over an hour later I sat down to some semi-cooled irish soda bread and tomato soup. Yummo! Though I do now think my tablespoon-of-sugar guess was a little on the side of exaggeration. ;) Still a success I say.

sunday sharing -- week 2

2012-01-22T13:59:00.002Z

Oo I'm such a slacker. Well, I've been more slack this week. Gotta watch myself. I missed two days this week. I've decided that if I miss a day I can't 'make it up' by doing two day pages in one day. It's not so much that I've been busy this week but instead distracted. There's been a few days this week I've spent hours on the internet researching holiday ideas for my March week off. Frustratingly I still haven't formed solid plans trying to figure out where to go within England and Wales and which trains to take. Anyhoo, for the drawings I did do...

I had a bit of a moment trying to decide between these two drawings. The watercolour won out as you can see though I still cheekily snuck in a snippet of the view out my bedroom window. Watercolour just has an endearing element to it. In the end, I couldn't not choose it. I like the way watercolour sits on the page; the texture it holds. Not the easiest medium to control but one of my favourites so far. I've been subconciously itching to open each of the little blocks of paints in my cute little watercolour set since I bought it and it was great to finally sit down and do so. I think it also won out because it's colour. I like colours.

For this painting itself, I'm really pleased with lady reading. People are not a strong point in my artistry skills (yet?) but I'm really happy with this one. In particular, with this one, how I was able to not 'go detailed'. That reading lady is splotches of colour and the feature that most resembles the idea I was suppose to follow; no presketching, blocks of colour with just a few details. It's like a wash of colour that resembles a specific shape. The rest is a bit more detailed. I'm still really pleased with how it turned out. The only "ba-baow" is the car. Mainly because it is clearly the wrong size for the position it holds. Either that or it's a supersized monster car. ;)

Ah, watercolour. Let's play again soon.

through the woods

2012-01-20T23:19:00.004Z

This is my next project which is actually well underway now. It's Through The Woods by Kalurah and I'm doing the crochet version. It should turn out something like this.There's also a knit version but when I found it and decided I needed to make it, I felt like crocheting. Hadn't done any in a while.

I've been working on getting various presents finished that it's super nice to sit and work on something for me again. I'm hoping to finish it and take it to Iceland with me but my Iceland trip isn't so far away now. Hopefully it will be done in time. Then I should actually get to finishing some mittens for myself in case London actually gets cold before winter is over.

Anyway, my near to current photo looks like this one. I've done a few more rows now and when I counted them this evening I realised I've only got five more to do until I start work on the edging rib look. Maybe I will get it done in three more weeks.
Yes, mine is red too. When shopping for some yarn for a friend I came across some Berroco Ultra Alpaca in this lovely shade. I went back and bought enough to make the hood. I've been wanting to make an alpaca project for quite a while now and I'm excited about this one. The knitted version is, of course, closer stitches. Crochet always has a chunkier look but I'm surprised you can actually crochet cable. I did get a bit disappointed at the start as it wasn't looking right and I was putting it aside wondering whether to go on. Then I looked over the pattern again and realised I wasn't doing the raised stitches like it said. So one night I unpulled it back to the second row and then re-crocheted back to where I was up to but doing it right this time. It made such a different and the pattern is sitting properly now. Sometimes it's froggin' worth it. :P I'm looking forward to wearing it and it keeping me warm.

sunday sharing--week 1

2012-01-15T16:47:00.003Z

So I've finished my first week of my "One Drawing a Day" book/course. I did alright I think. I managed to draw for six days out of seven. Friday I just didn't get time because, honestly, the day was full of more important things. Saturday I had to force myself to sit down and draw. The most difficult aspect of drawing this week was trying to find some abstract and interpretation while trying to draw. Some of the examples were whispy or the artist's interpretation of what they saw and when I tried to do something similar I kept finding myself putting in more and more detail. My other challenge is to slow down and take my time. I've noticed myself getting impatient in my drawings and start to get a bit wild in my strokes. But when I concentrate and try I can get a result like this.

My favourite of the week is : Mike in charcoal

I like drawing with charcoal and this day asked me to draw a portrait using the tv. When I finished reading the page I looked up and there was a picture of one of my friends on my computer so I decided to draw him. Of course, the example was a lot more basic than what I've drawn but I like very much how it turned out. The eye on the left is a little odd. I think it either needed to be thinner or a little less dark. I'm not too sure but that's the only displeasure really in my work. I am particularly happy with my efforts drawing the teeth and his hair was particularly fun to draw.

I've done mostly ink and charcoal this week with some graphite pencil as well. I've done a few portraits and am seeing a pattern of making their heads too short in length. I've also learnt that if I need to spray my work to hold it so it doesn't rub off, I need to make sure I do it on a page that doesn't have anything on the back. This one had an ink dragon on the other side and when I sprayed it, it brought parts of it through to the Mike side. It has sadly permanently disturbed the Mike-drawing. I did some editing so you could see it more like it was in its pre-sprayed state.

Week 2 should be interesting as colour comes in to play.

a sketchy dream

2012-01-08T09:15:00.000Z

I've never known what to do career-wise. Never known what I'd like enough to choose to do long term. Truthfully, I never really planned on having a 'career'. But for quite a number of years now I've had this idea floating around the back of my head of writing, maybe even illustrating, children's stories. During the last year or so I've been thinking more about drawing and have even done a bit more but I still seriously need to develop my skills. Not just in drawing but in being disciplined and persisting. I do tend to have a play at something and then drift away from the idea but I'd like to give drawing--being an artist--a proper try and see if I can be any good and if I might enjoy it long term. Test my potential.

I bought this book a while back called "One drawing a day". I thought this would be a good starter. They call it a six week course in drawing and the basic idea is to simply draw and get into the habit of doing so and explore different art mediums. After reading the introduction I decided to get some more supplies to work with.

Today I went for a jog and purposefully ended up near an art shop. The art store has a sale on so there were lots of good prices. I think I spent more than an hour in there trying to decide what to get. I didn't want to spend too much but there were so many interesting tools and supplies in there. It wasn't till I got home that I realised how much of a bargain I got. Some of the things I bought were 65% off.
I happily have a whole assortment of art toys to play with. A lovely new blank sketch book full of potential. I'm excited about trying the bamboo brush/pen. It has a nib shaped end and a brush end. I wanted a bamboo nib but I was summoned by the bamboo brushes too. I borrowed a book on Chinese Brush Art from the library last year that was wonderfully inspiring. I also bought a gold/bronze ink and black ink to go with it. And I have red already. I also got--some of the huge bargains I scored--a 24 oil pastels set to experiment with and a little watercolour kit that has 12 half size blocks in a practical carry case. I bought myself a good watercolour paintbrush too because it's much nicer using quality. I also got some graphite pencils, some pens (one has a brush end) and a kneadable eraser. That should get me started quite well.

And to help keep me persisting, I aim to share my favourite drawing from the week each Sunday.

squeezing the deadline

2011-12-31T17:52:00.002Z

I promised a friend I'd make her something back in February. It was part of a Pay It Forward thing on facebook to be handmade this year. As I was arranging to move to England at the time I said I probably wouldn't make it until I got to the UK.

I remembered all this last month. :S He he.

So I grabbed some Fibreworks yarn my sister sent over; a mix of possum, sheep and alpaca fibre with some nylon. Using a mostly blue ball and a multicolour ball I made up some fingerless mittens switching between the two to create some funky stripes. I've just finished them. Pheee-ew! (Dramatic wiping of the brow.)

Now I have to finish getting ready to go see Billy Elliot the Musical and watch the new year roll in. Talk about pushing a deadline.

all wrapped up

2011-12-23T22:51:00.002Z

Yay! I've finally finished off my work family's Christmas presents and have wrapped them up ready for the day. I finished off the second mitt I've already told you about. I also finished up a heatbag. I crocheted the front with a star stitch in a multicolour half wool half acrylic that I had in my stash.
I knitted two sides for the back that are buttoned up to hold in the heatbag. Only one minor issue I needed to cover up. I laid all the pieces overlapping in the right order to sew them together but forgot that as I was doing that inside out the order needed to be "inside out" so to speak. So basically, once I'd turned it in the right way the button side overlapped over the button holes instead of the other way around. So I pulled it to overlap the right way which twisted the ends a bit. But I sewed them down so it all works. ;) The bag is denim sewn in sections and filled with buckwheat.I also made some wine glass rings with a black, white and silver theme. So it can go with any table setting. I had to get a little creative to come up with ways to make each one look different. I only had a few mini charms. I think they look quite smart though.Now to pack and catch a train to the country house where I'm having Christmas with my work family since my actual family is all the way home in Australia. I'll see them online on Christmas morning then I'll kick back and relax and enjoy a wintery few days away.

feeling the season

2011-12-15T20:07:00.007Z

Merry Christmas everyone!!

I'm anticipating my second winter Christmas but my first one was in San Francisco, USA and it didn't get that cold there. So this is my first REAL winter Christmas. It's almost a week to go and the weather here is regularly below 8°C. A top of 3-4°C forcast for this weekend. I went and bought myself a squishy, warm down-filled coat and some slippers this past week. They are both well used already. For all my life Christmas has had winter attached to it (movies, products, wrapping paper, decorations...) but it's just not like that in Australia. Down in the southern hemisphere it's summer. Christmas is hot (generally speaking) and Christmas meals are often BBQs in the back yard or at the beach. Here all the wintery Christmas things fit which makes it all the more exciting and despite objections from the locals, I hope it snows. A white Christmas would be tremendous. This week I spruced up my bedroom window with the winter Christmas theme. Simple but lovely. My "tree" has two presents under it already. Three if you count the ticket to see Billy Elliot the Musical (technically not under the 'tree' but it is a Christmas present). Most boastfully I crocheted some cute little snowflakes to dangle in the window. ^^ My favourite is the middle one. I basically searched for snowflakes on ravelry just for ideas and then created my own versions. A lovely little festivity in my room and they are most welcome to stay all winter long. I'm looking forward to experiencing a full-blown winter (snow in the city--will surely be an experience).

Hope you all have a wonderfully, delicious, fabulous time in great company.

half done projects

2011-12-09T22:34:00.003Z

So I have been knitting. I've only been half finishing things. Knit the fingerless mitt on the right with a bit of possum (and merino, alpaca and nylon). ^^ It's from two skeins of Fibreworks yarn that my sister so kindly bought from the Bendigo Sheep and Wool Show and posted to me. I've knitted 'stripes' alternating between the mostly blue and the multicolour. As the blue is not quite a solid blue the stripes are a little blurred together but it's just a different kind of cool than I was imagining. This is the Pay It Forward project I blogged briefly about a few posts ago.

The white fingerless mitt I decided to start after my boss thoughtfully brought me back a ball of Carriag Donn 100% merino wool from her weekend away in Ireland. When I saw the pattern (Susie's Reading Mitts) on raverly I decided to knit some for my boss for Christmas. Since the yarn is different to what the pattern uses, I'm just using the general pattern idea. So I put the other mitt aside and got straight to work on these. So one of each finished at the moment but the second white one is under construction.

jillymitts completed

2011-11-29T20:36:00.003Z

So here's the jillymitts I finished a while ago now. I have a friend's 30th coming up and I decided to make her something. As I don't know her real well and was unsure what to get her as a present I just decided to make her something by hand. A personal present that is useable is a good gift I think. So I decided to frog the shawl that wasn't working that I'd started to crochet with my plum purple 100% alpaca by Tailored Strands. It's fingering weight/4ply and I used my 3.75mm circs for the job. I planned to do simple fingerless mittens as they would be quickest to make meaning I should get them finished before the party. I decided to add a bit of interest with a touch of lace work. Just a few thoughtfully positioned holes I planned to work in. Since my friend is quite a bit smaller than me I made them tight on my hands and I'm hoping they'll fit her well. I let the ends curl at the edges of the ribbing sections. Even on the thumb. For the thumb I just held some stitches and picked them up later. It's on the gloves I started next that I tried a thumb gusset which I like as a better option. These mittens I find to be rather tight across the palm. But hopefully they'll fit my friend's hands fine. The only pity is that with the positioning of the lacework, though I like it, it doesn't really get shown off unless you hang your hands to stretch it out. Oh well. All in all I'm rather happy with them and I hope my friend loves them and finds them wonderfully useful.

rattlesnake beanie

2011-11-22T20:24:00.002Z

Watch out! He's got the evil eye on. You can tell he's a hungry one. Oh no.... HE GOT ME! Ahhhh!

Yes yes. I had fun with this one. I was thrilled knitting every stitch and sewing on each decorative piece. Yes, and taking every photo. :) Such a laugh.

I bought thicker yarn so I could knit it quickly. I used Lang West in a perfect browny black. Just the right colour for a snake and a good boy colour. The charcoal yarn is left over from my wurm. I knit a black lip with it and then switched to the bigger needles and yarn. Instead of finishing off the top in a rounded beanie shape I just kept knitting in a smaller tube. Then switching back to the charcoal I did some knitting and purling rounds to make his rattle. I decided to stuff him lightly to give him shape and so crocheted a round circle which I attached on the inside to stop the stuffing coming out.

I then used felt to cut some fangs, wicked hunting eyes and the diamonds for his back. I think it all came together really well. My 8yo nephew has finally received it and sounds like he had just as much fun with it as I did. I doubt it will get a lot of use at the moment as he's in Australia where the heat is on. All the same, I think he did get the kick out of it that I believed he would. How could you not though? He he.

Happy 8th Birthday Ben!!

first thumb gusset

2011-11-21T22:43:00.002Z

It's late here for me. I should be going to bed. I also have a finished project to show and tell.

But I can't resist. I'm a little thrilled.

The last mittens I knitted--the ones that are waiting for a post--got a bit tight across the palm at the thumb base. So when I got to that point with these ones I thought I'd do a bit of youtubeing. Found out about thumb gussets, got the general idea and gave it a go.

It worked. It fits much better. It looks good. I'm so happy with it. This project is my PIF project (Pay It Forward). Some facebook thing that if you joined in something would be handmade for you. Then you post it too and those who commented on yours, you made something handmade for them. That was back in January or something. Back before I left Australia. It was to be made this year. I just remembered last week I owe a friend a handmade. So I'm knitting away. And very pleased with this new skill I've learned.

My thoughtful boss brought me back some yarn from Ireland when she went there on the weekend. Carraig Donn 100% Merino Wool in Ecru (white). Think I'll be making some more mittens for me when these ones are done. Anyway, more about this later. I need to go to bed.

wokka wokka lunch

2011-11-20T15:52:00.003Z

I've been a bit inspired by friends and pinterest. I premade a special lunch last Friday for a bit of fun. Left it waiting on the table for when I got the boy home from nursery. Let me show you what I did.

I took one ordinary marmite sandwich and cut it up in a funny way. And then with some bits of cheese and cucumber in the right place....voila!

One thrilled little boy who had fun eating a helicopter for lunch. (Wokka wokka is the sound they make apparently.) The boy is mad about helicopters.

simple knit necklace

2011-11-15T13:43:00.004Z

Just a simple thing to knit while I'm doing other things. I've been planning on doing this ever since I bought the yarn in Ireland back in May. It's Donegal Aran Tweed from Studio Donegal. Probably not the best yarn for the project as it doesn't knit up smoothly. So my necklace is textured. This is just the beginning. I plan to make more that I can wear all at once or mix and match.

For this yellow one I just cast on 200sts on 4mm circulars, linked them into a loop, knit about 6 or 7 rounds and cast off. It rolls itself into a tubular shape. I think I'll make the next one, a grey one, a little shorter--for varied length.

In the meantime, I have a couple of projects with time limits. I have the Jillymitts to finish by early December and something handmade I promised to make a friend this year that I only just remembered about. Might make some more fingerless mittens. Then I might get back to things for me. :)

tongue surgery

2011-11-08T19:55:00.003Z

I bought some shoes the other week. (I'm very sad that my other ones wore out so quickly. I really liked them but with winter ever so close here it just won't do to have shoes with holes in the heels.) The only thing I didn't like--call me superficial if you like--is the fat tongues. Oversized. Squishing the insides (my feet). So I planned some liposuction for them.
Ok, so I just opened them up, turned them inside out and cut away the excess. :)

Here's a comparison between the one that's been through surgery and the one in waiting. Much more reasonable.

Happy with the surgery, I stitched it back up and got to work on the other one. Then I carefully and diligently laced them up in a different way just for fun. In time they will compact a bit more but they are much more useable now. No more ghastly superfat tongues. :P

jillymitts

2011-11-02T03:12:00.000Z

Happy Birthday to my little bro! Back home in Australia he's clocked up another year of life. He's a new age that I'll likely not see him in person for. You get that when adventuring on the other side of the world though.

Speaking of birthdays, I've been working on some presents. The rattlesnake beanie is one I'm making for my nephew. (Blogged about a few posts ago.) I'm also working on some Jillymitts. Named so for the receiver who will be making the 30 milestone next month. And I get to celebrate with her. ^^ So I decided to frog my lacy Elise Shawl (it wasn't working anyway) and use the lovely alpaca to provide some sweet warmth for my friend's hands.

I started out with a very basic idea. I want to get them done in time for her party. But of course I decided to add in a simple bit of fancy. So once I'd formed the idea in my head I did some scibbling on paper to work out the logistics of making it knitable.

All my planning and forethought paid off and I was able to produce what I'd envisioned. Yay! The thumb hole was a different matter but it's set now and waiting for me to finish off the finger end ribbing.
It's a bit tight on my hand but since my friend is quite a bit smaller than me I thought that was a wise idea. With an open end thumb and fingers (mitten style) they're more likely to fit ok. Since I'm not too far off finishing the first one after just a couple of weeks and I've kept a rough record of what I've done, I should be able to finish the second one by the end of the month. She shall get a completed present. Ah, I love a bit of homemade birthday goodness.

coastering along

2011-10-31T08:43:00.001Z

In my room in London I have this lovely little writing desk to use. It's the kind of desk that makes me reluctant to sit my cuppa straight on the wood. Usually I rest it on some paper or whatever pile is there. But today I decided to tidy up a bit. While the boy was sleeping this afternoon, I decided to pull out some scrap yarn and make a pretty little cup rug.
I love a spot of colour. I used the Bendigo Woollen Mills Luxury that I dyed blue and a little of what remained of the yellow and purple sock yarn. Using them both at the same time, I crocheted a simple circle. It still took a while as I find it difficult to make a flat circle. It keeps going wonky with too many stitches or not enough so there was a bit of frogging involved as per normal with my wing-its. When I'd made it the size I wanted, I dropped the sock yarn and did one more round of plain blue which wraps it up nicely. I really like how the stripey yarn blended with the plain. I ironed it to make it sit nice and flat and now I can rest my chai tea without any worries about the desk surface.

sneak peek rattlesnake

2011-10-28T14:44:00.003+01:00

This rattlesnake beanie is a wing-it. (Meaning I got an idea and am making it up as I go.) It's knitted from left over wurm wool and mostly thick Lang West (roughly half wool half acrylic) in browny black. I've gotta weave in some ends and add some details yet but I'm eager to see the finished product. I think it will go down a hoot with my soon-to-be 8 year old nephew!

wander the crafting world

2011-10-25T19:58:00.005+01:00

If you're bored or if you want to procrastinate or if you feel like you want to simply wander around a craft market (without leaving your home) then check out the new link on the left.

The Universal Craft Blog Directory is an increasing list of various craft sites across the world wide web. Whether it's about knitting, sewing, papercraft, model making, doll making, cake decorating, crocheting, beading, jewellery making, cross stitch, woodwork, mosaic, pottery, or whatever else is out there and being done this is a place to gather.

If you're a crafter and have a blog to share, come and add it to the list. If you just want to look and see what others out there are creatively crafting, take a random wander through the links. I'm sure you'll find things that are new and interesting and amazing; even surprising and inspiring.

Just click the pic to begin.

twice as warm

2011-10-16T18:14:00.004+01:00

I've just finished crocheting two animal beanies. A lion and a monkey. They'll be ever so cute on the gorgeous twin boys I used to help care for. They turn one at the end of the month. I made a rabbit beanie for their big sister back in June. While I no longer work for that family I thought I'd still go ahead and make the beanies I'd planned to make for them. It only seems fair. Besides, it's their first birthday so it's a little bit special.The lion beanie I made from a chunky soft acrylic along with some plain brown mostly or all acrylic (I can't remember). I made two lines of triangles for the mane. One is long and goes from earflap to earflap and the other is shorter just going from ear to ear. I was going to put one in front of the ears but when I looked up pictures of lions, I discovered that most of their mane is behind their ears.
The monkey I made from the same brown and it took me quite a while to get the head going. Lots of frogging and re-crocheting as per normal when I'm winging it. I eventually got it to work and decided on grey for the inner ear and top of the face. I'm quite happy with how they both have turned out.
The only issue is that I think I made the monkey one too big. See...it fits MY head! It's always a challenge to make things like this, not using a pattern, when you can't try it on as you go. I hope it's not too bad of a fit but better too big (it can be grown into) than too small.Oh well. I'll post them on anyway and wish them a wonderful birthday. Little cuties. :)

My next projects are more beanies. Knitted ones this time. One is my wurm replacement and the other I've just started is a special one for a nephew of mine whose birthday is coming up next month. I think he'll get a kick out of it.

a bit here and there

2011-10-08T18:15:00.005+01:00

I haven't been blogging much for a while, I know. But I HAVE still been knitting/crocheting in between everything else that's been going on. Aside from the limited internet access, I've been on a road trip around Ireland for a week while I was waiting for my new job to start. When I got back I had to pack and move to London and start settling into my new job. All this has kept me pretty busy. Oh, I also got sucked in to listening to The Host by Stephanie Meyer on my ipod. Very interesting story.

So before I went to Ireland I bought myself an ipod. A lovely yellow one with 16gb so with all my music and the shows and audiobook I bought from the iTunes store there's still plenty of room. I decided to knit a case for it so it wouldn't get scratched and ruined when I threw it in my bag. Using left over sock yarn from the last socks I made, the first one I knit ended up being too tight to squeeze my earphones in as well. The way I stitched the top looked terrible too. So I started again. This time using doubled yarn so the stripes became a speckle of colour and using 4mm needles so it would knit up quicker. The idea was good but I had intended to make it even looser than it turned out but it fit my ipod and headphones. I didn't have time to try again. The lid is attached so it's a flip-top; even if it is a bit of tight fit. I also purled an 'i' on the back of it. ^^ It's a snug little sleeping bag for it.

My other knitting has been the continuance of the spiral cowl I've been working on. I started it about a month and a half ago a bit before I went to Scotland. I cast off and wove the ends in the other night and today gave it an iron blocking so it would sit flat and show off the spiral pattern. I noticed a few mistakes when I did this. Not that they're that noticeable to anyone else.

I just realised I've not showed you this project at all. I used the Malabrigo in Atardecer that I bought in Ireland back in May when I went for the weekend. I only used one skein and a little bit more. I used the Spiral Cowl pattern by Keri McKiernan. Free raverly one of course.

I'm actually a little disappointed at how this turned out. It's a lot bigger and floppier than I'd hoped and doesn't quite sit like I want it to. Perhaps the yarn I used isn't stiff enough.
It works ok like this and I can use my thistle pin I got in Scotland to hold it like that. But I'm thinking I may attempt to felt it a little. Perhaps on one side--the back. Hm, might look into it anyway.

Now that my 4mm circulars are finished with the spiral cowl I've put them to work making my replacement wurm. This time I won't wash it in the washing machine.

I've also been working on some animal beanies for the twins I previously cared for. They turn one at the end of the month. I made a rabbit beanie for their sister and decided I should still give them the beanies I planned to make for their 1st birthday despite the fact that I have a new job now. I'm near finished a lion beanie and have just started a monkey one as well.

I also attempted to find some craft shops today that the mum here had been told about by a friend. She couldn't quite remember where they were so we guessed a bit. It was a bit of an adventure to find the place...catching a bus that didn't go to the stop I had wanted and then ending up somewhere off my map and figuring out from maps at the bus stops where I was and where to head etc. I did find the area we thought her friend had said but I didn't find a single craft shop. I did a huge walking loop and ended up back home without anything. Might do a bit more research online before I head out on that mission again.

In the meantime, I'll see if I can get these beanies finished and free up some more needles again. I have more ideas waiting. ;)

buggar!

2011-09-09T18:10:00.002+01:00

Oh noooo!

Damn it! I didn't think when I did my washing yesterday. :( My wurm. My newly finished wurm. It needed a wash coz it got all peat smoked when I visited an iron age house in Scotland. And I simply didn't think when I put it in the wash with the rest of my stuff.

Resulted in my first felted knit project. One shrunken, felted wurm beanie. No longer fits. Nor has the same texture. Bummer. Oh well. Nothing can be done now. Perhaps it was a good thing that the pattern called for more yarn than I needed making me buy two skiens. I think I shall be making another with that spare skein.

cable stripe socks

2011-09-01T11:01:00.004+01:00

I finished these socks and sewed in the ends the night before I left for Scotland. I wanted to take them and they were so close to being finished. ^^ They were knitted with Moda Vera Noir that was given to me for my 30th last year. I picked a cable pattern out of my Knit and Crochet Bible to use on them with the hope they might slurr the stripes a bit but it didn't work. They just look stripey both ways. It's a very simple cable. If you can even really call it a cable.

I doubt both socks are exactly the same. Well, I know they are not. I didn't follow a pattern and then had to guess to get the second sock similar. He he. The 'cabling' is over the top of the foot and then right around the ankle with a basic rib at the cuff. I did short row heels as that's all I know how to do. For the second I tried a version from Little Red in the City as I mentioned in this post. It's the one on the right. I like what I did on the first sock better. Less holey looking. I don't know what it was I did though. Ha ha. But that's what you get for not following a pattern and not keeping a record of what you do. I don't mind though. They kept my toes warm in Scotland. ^^

scottish crafting

2011-08-30T18:20:00.004+01:00

So I went to Scotland for 10 days just recently. I got back yesterday. What a hoot! I loved Scotland. Especially the last six days which I spent going on a Wild in Scotland tour through the highlands and outer Hebrides. It was fantastic.The scenery in the outer Hebrides was amazing. It was quite different seeing great scenery without trees. Twice some of us walked into the next place we were staying (bags driven in) and I'm glad I did. The walks were a great way to get out in the scenery.Here we are wading/swimming in Loch Ness. Our tour guide was posing as Nessie. Pwa ha ha. Those who swam were brave because the water was achingly cold. Scotland even has some stunning beaches but no where else have I seen sheep at the beach. I liked the hairy coos too (highland cows). I did wonder if anyone's ever tried to make hairy coo yarn...On the last day we stopped by a real Harris Tweed weavers shop. To be Harris Tweed it needs to be woven on either the Isle of Harris or Lewis. He said some make it to sell to fashion makers and so have to follow a set pattern. He just does his own thing which would definitely be more interesting. Unfortunately he was at the stage of setting up a new weaving process and had just started tying in the multiple threads.
He said it takes about 3hrs just to do that. You can see why huh? Once it's all set up he said it takes about three days of weaving about 5hrs a day to make 50 yards (?? I can't remember quite how long he said he makes it).

I decided to buy some. One metre (half of each you can see) for £12.50 for some genuine Harris Tweed that I got from the Isle of Lewis, Scotland. I couldn't justify paying for a Harris Tweed product in the store we stopped at in town. Now I can make something myself instead. Excitement! And...the guy even gave me some "genuine Harris Tweed" labels to put on whatever I make. How cool is that? Very happy. The tour guide told me later that the guys face had lit up when I asked to buy some so that made me feel even better. So worth buying and squishing into my already tightly packed bag.

I'm not sure what I'm going to make yet but it will be saved for something special. For now I'm realishing in simply having this fabric and that I went to Scotland to get it. ^^

i have a wurm

2011-08-09T21:16:00.003+01:00

I up and finished my wurm yesterday. Woohoo! I was so excited. I used Knit by Numbers 100% Merino Double Knit in charcoal to make mine. Even though the pattern said I would need about 320m, thus me buying two skeins, I only used one skein. I like the fat head band and springy drap of the rest with the scrunchy end to it all. Funky. I love it. And it suits me fine. Only as I said in my last post, I did kinda wish I'd done a colour like I had originally planned. I like the charcoal. I quite like greys at the moment. And it's a very versatile colour. But I did decide to add a splash of colour to give it some "me" style.
I crocheted the uneven star last night, figuring it out as I went and left it blocking overnight. This morning I sewed the star onto the beanie at first but it didn't sit right so I took it off. Now it's on a broche pin. It sits better and is removeable. I might just make a snowflake too sometime.

K1,P1,K1,P1...

2011-08-05T23:25:00.003+01:00

Not the pattern I'm clicking away with the sticks at but the ongoingness is what's going on. (Did you make any sense of that crazy sentence? Ha ha. It's late.) These are the two projects I've been working away on when I'm feeling like some knitting action. Mainly because these are my two easiest projects. I've been watching lots of tv shows lately. Re-running through ones I've previously enjoyed. Apart from Burn Notice which I haven't seen before. My latest re-run is Dr Quinn Medicine Woman. Reminds me of my youth. I quite enjoy watching these oldies (nostaligia) and watching again how they all began. So tv knitting requires simpleness.
I've rounded the heel on my double stripe second sock. I did have to do that without any shows. Or at least start it that way to remember how to do it. Actually I used Little Red in the City to do the short row heel. Ysolda's book had three different techniques for doing short rows so I tried one of them. I'm not sure how I've done it in the past. I always forget by the time I get around to the next heel. I did a wrapped stitch version. I just feel it was simpler the way I've done it in the past...not that I remember how that was. But perhaps I just need practise. Nice to have the sock taking shape though. I've started on the full circle cabling now so progress will slow a little.
My wurm is coming along wonderfully. It's been my main tv knitting project as it's so simple. I have a stitch count marker so I just knit or purl til I reach my sheep and then know it's time to switch. I think I'm ready to start the top shaping. I'll have to check the pattern. I'm liking the drape of the beanie. I hope it suits me. Part of me wishes I'd got a colour as I intended. But when I decided to buy yarn I could only seem to find nice blues or greens in a solid colour and I already have a blue beanie and a green one underway. And charcoal grey will go with any outfit really. I'm thinking I might pull out my crochet hook in the end and add a spot of colour yet. Give it a bit of 'me' flare. :)

Well, it's off to bed for now. Tomorrow I have a big day of vegging planned. More tv, more knitting, probably some playing with my new camera, maybe a walk and some other general relaxing. I have another block of chocolate to consume too. He he. Ah, weekend....

some hemp for my niece

2011-07-20T08:16:00.003+01:00

I have a niece who turned three at the beginning of July. I made her a necklace and bought her a dress...just like Christmas time in fact. She's such a girly girl it's intriguing to see her own likes develop without specific encouragement. For Christmas I made a necklace for her with cotton and it broke before the day was out (fixed too but still...). This time I found some fun shiny glass beads and some hemp string. That should withstand a bit more pull than a few strands of cotton. I attached a lovely little wooden heart as a pendant and then did random pattern of colours but matching each side. Two beads and a knot, repeat till a decent length. I left a little string at the end so it can be tied in a bow. It should be big enough to just slip over her head but it's good to have that back up. I actually quite like the way it turned out. It's kiddish but a nice fancy kiddish necklace.

On the yarn front, I balled one of the charcoal wool skeins I bought at Knit Nation and started my wurm. I've been really looking forward to this. It's a simple knit but interesting. A fun combination. I've almost finished the band. I left it on my bed yesterday (coz I had to do a round before I went downstairs to start work). We had a real estate guy snoop round the house as the owners are putting it on the market this summer and he mustn't have shut my door properly. This is what I found later. Certainly not the way I left it. Proof that the three year old had been playing in my room.

She'd been in the day before with me while I was balling the yarn and I ended up putting her out of my room coz she thought she'd like to have a play with it. I didn't care for it to be all knotted up. My new Addi circulars are 100cm long and there was no slack outside the ball. Thankfully it was easy to unthread. At least there was no harm done. Not even a knot. So,... enough blogging. I need to knit again. ^^

knitting and knights (and little red)

2011-07-17T13:13:00.007+01:00

This is the knitting part anyway. The knights part is on my other blog.

So after realising this week that Knit Nation was on in London this weekend I made some quick arrangements to go check out the marketplace on Saturday. I arrived about 10:30ish and hung out until 2pm. I first wandered around the marketplace just checking out what was there so my second time around and my going back and forth between stalls could be for deciding what to buy. I didn't save up for this one like I do for the one in Australia so I had a limited spending range--which I busted anyway.
Check out these babies! Hugest one's I've seen so far. Photo worthy. Have no idea what the actual size is though. I'm glad London provided a lovely summer's day for wearing something knitty. He he. I got to christen my new umbrella too. I had a number of comments on my leafy neck wrap which is always nice.

Here's a general shot of the Marketplace room. This half of it though I'm not quite standing at the end. It was delightful to look around and touch and think about buying but the size did let me down a little. If you've ever been to the Bendigo Sheep and Wool Show you'll understand why. Mostly at Knit Nation Marketplace it's just skeins (which seem to major on fingering/4ply yarn) with a few little knick knacks like stitch markers and needles and bags. They had a little fibre and books and patterns as well. Sorry, but nothing like Bendigo dishes up. I think Knit Nation is more about the classes you can take which run all weekend.

I discovered the existance of sock blanks. That is when plain yarn is knitted into an oblong and THEN dyed. You then knit straight from the sock blank as you unpull it. This one is double knitted (two threads knitted at the same time) so you can knit two socks and have them look the same. You can get some interesting results.

I went ahead and bought some stuff and then got too hungry not to snack on something. So I pulled out my gingerbread I brought with me as I headed up stairs to the Knit Tea Salon. Yes, I had to get the sheep one to take to Knit Nation. :)

By far the highlight of the day was meeting Ysolda Teague who writes some awesome knitting patterns. She has a great style. She has fabulous patterns and I'm impressed with her talent and knowledge. I got to have a squiz at her new book and decided in no time at all that I must buy it. I did first have a go at the lucky dip--just in case I scored the book for free--but I got a voucher for an online pattern instead.

I also met her friend, Sarah, who I recognised from Ysolda's blog. Sarah sometimes posts there too. From what the book says, she sounds like a great friend. I talked quite a bit with her and she helped me try on some of the garments that were there (from Ysolda's new book). She really was a lovely woman.

I had planned to get a photo with her but Ysolda actually had a photo booth there. So I doned one of her designs (the one I want to knit) and had a photo with her. When it printed out I was seriously disappointed. My eyes were closed! :( It just wouldn't do. So I put on another item (the same one in a different size and colour) and she happily obliged me. Thanks Ysolda! So I bought her book and a project bag (coz I'll need a bigger one than I have for knitting a sweater) and she signed both. I'm a little embarressed to say I acted like such a fan. I was so caught up in the thrill of it all that I later thought, "I should have spoken to her more. Even just said that I liked her style and her designs are great." Silly me. I did thank her for signing my purchases and being in my photo at least.

So here's what I exchanged my pounds for:

I bought two skeins of Knit by Numbers 100% Merino DK in dark charcoal from Fibre Harvest so I can make my wurm beanie that I've had in my Ravelry queue for a while now. I also bought a skein of undyed 4ply which is 90% British Wool Superwash and 10% Nylon also from Fibre Harvest. This 100g skein was a show special for £2.50. I bought the "Little Red in the City" pattern book and project bag from Ysolda as I mentioned and then went back to the Marketplace to get some needles with the last of my cash. I bought two Addi 100cm/4mm lace points. These ones are metal so that will be a first to try. And it also means I can start on my wurm before I finish my pixie beanie. ;)

Ysolda's book, Little Red in the City, is soooo good. I'd been umming and ahhing about buying it until I saw it at Knit Nation. It's bigger and thicker than I was expecting and has loads more interesting and useful information than I'd heard too. It was great having a range of garments from the book on display too as I realised that there might just be more than one I want to make. The lay out is fabulous too. I love the style.

The fantastic feature of this book is the range of sizes for each sweater. Thirteen of them! Each pattern is photographed in a smaller size and a larger size too which is a real bonus. The patterns have a fill-in-the-gap feature as well meaning you take note of the size you are knitting and use the chart to find the corresponding number for the gap you are filling.

It has lots of useful tips and techniques like this 'one row buttonholes' section and others like different ways to do shortrows and blocking. It gives lots of information on how to get the right fit for you including how to measure the body it's going on and how the adaption to the sizing works. It also shares the value and importance of swatching and considering ease. It was also nice to find a little bonus ruler gage tucked in the book. Oh I look forward to reading this book more thoroughly and indulging myself in getting Melia and maybe more on my needles. Well worth the buy. And of course the lovely bonus of them being signed in person by the author makes these two Little Red's in the City my new treasures. ^^

Overall the Knit Nation part of my day was wonderfully pleasant and I quite enjoyed myself. I'm glad to say I've been though I suspect if you're interesting in gaining knitty knowledge and not just there for the shop, attending the classes would make it way better. But I still must say, if you've never been and if you are ever in Australia in July, you MUST go to the Bendigo Sheep and Wool Show because by 2pm at Knit Nation Marketplace I was ready for something else--and my bus didn't leave till 7pm. That's where the knights came in...

bunny beanie

2011-07-12T19:59:00.004+01:00

This weekend past we had a party for the toddler of the family I work for. She turned three. She has quite a few stuffed bunnies and a special one--baby bunny--who usually accompanies her and her blanket when going to sleep. (And at other random times.) So I made her a bunny beanie as a present.
Using Sirdar Crofter Dk Fair Isle effect I crocheted a basic beanie. This yarn is mostly acrylic with some cotton and a bit of wool. Should be warm enough but I hesitate to use super nice wool on children. Especially ones who have heaps of clothes and hats anyway. It's suppose to have a natural fair isle effect without the fair isle work but it doesn't really work with crochet. I like the spread of colours anyway and her favourite colour is pink so it works well. I bought one ball from a discontinued basket and unfortunately one wasn't enough. I resolved the issue by buying the same yarn in smaller ply. With this smaller ply I made earflaps for extra warmth and bunny ears to attach to the top. Using purple (from the wool I dyed for the rainbow ripple baby blanket), instead of pink as I intended simply because I had it already, I crocheted around the entire bottom of the beanie including earflaps. Then I added the ties. Decided to have a go at fishtail plaiting them as I've learnt how to do it recently. I'm glad I did too. I think it looks a little more interesting than a regular plait. I added a mini tassle for a little pizazz without too much fluff.

With the ears I made a tube starting at the top and the purple I added in as I went carrying the other yarn across. First attempt at fair isle really. I also decided to stitch around the purple inner ear to define the edges a bit more as well as stitch the two sides together so it felt less like a tube and more like a thick ear.

I had hoped that this thickening would help the ears stand a bit but they don't. It's a floppy earred bunny hat. I pinched the base together too when I sewed them on because they just look better like that.

Overall I'm quite pleased with how it turned out. I'm not sure what the toddler thinks really. You know what toddlers can be like when they are just getting present after present. Her mum liked it though and got her to try it on at least. It's a bit big for her but that's fine as winter here is still months off and it will just fit her for longer.

rainbow ripple baby blanket

2011-07-06T19:54:00.003+01:00

Completed! Posted. Received.

I started this blanket back in January when I bought three white and one black ball of Bendigo Woollen Mills Luxury 8ply. The white balls I split into six balls and proceeded to dye them each a colour of the rainbow. Once they were dry and balled up they were packed into my luggage as I prepared to move to England. During my stopover in Sydney to visit family before taking off on my UK adventure I started hooking away. And I kept hooking away once I arrived here too. After a bloody drama with the blocking--not real blood, just the dye bleeding >:S Grrr--I washed it over and over until the colours stopped running and crossed my fingers they wouldn't run afresh when it was in the hands of its new owner. Unfortunately there are a few bloody marks which is frustrating and they wouldn't wash out with all the extra washing. At least the colours in general are still ok though they are not quite as bright as before.

My only regret for lack of forethought was to put some lanoline in the mix when washing them at the end of the dyeing process. The coloured wool is not as soft as luxury is when straight from the shop. On the whole the pattern is funky and the rainbow colours will keep the new mum happy. I'm sure her precious son will love staring at the contrast of bright colours. I forgot to measure it so I'm not sure how big it is. It was suppose to be 40cm diametre according to the pattern but I don't know if I did the same amount of rounds as they said to. It will make a good pram blanket or warm wrap. Being winter back home I'm sure it will get good use.

re-do the re-do

2011-06-29T21:49:00.002+01:00

Do you remember I frogged some of my pixie beanie and got to work reshaping it? Well, I've frogged it half back again. It wasn't rounding over my head fast enough and by the time I would have worked it to the point I wanted it would have been much longer than I wanted. So I'm redoing it a second time. I had shaped off the leaf pattern before and this time I'm shaping it off a little differently. Hopefully this is the last big froggin' redo I'll have on this project. Usually I don't bother so much but I have such a cute idea in my head that I'm willing to do the extra work to get it right. Still trying to keep track of what I'm doing to hopefully write up a pattern but my notes are getting pretty messy now so we'll see how that goes. Fingers crossed.

wedding in the making

2011-06-26T14:24:00.005+01:00

The main event of my europe week was the final weekend in Dusseldorf, Germany where I participated in the celebration of a friend's wedding. What a delight! I even got to be a bridesmaid. It was beautiful and I had a great time.

I also helped out with a few tasks using my creative talents. Best of all was this bracelet. We made her cry with this one. :) All day Thursday was the bachelourette day. We four bridesmaids planned a day of delight and relaxing, in between the blindfolded excursions. We also presented the bride with this bracelet I had made. The note accompanying it read:

Two hearts in one spot as you and your fiance come together to make one family.
A flip flop for M thinking of your Hawaii holiday and many good times together wearing them.

A graduation cap for K thinking of the scholars you were together.

A pair of hands for J thinking of the support and love shared through your prayer partnership.

A palm tree for Kelly thinking of how you met and became friends in California, USA.

One crown because you are now queen of your own family.

The bride also had to wear a sash I made saying "Bride to Be" and we wore badges. We also met up with a bunch of other girls after dinner to go clubbing and they wore badges too. Still, if anyone is getting married or going to a hens/bachelourette night, I still have a whole bunch of these.

I also made a necklace for me to wear on the wedding day. We had watermelon bridesmaids dresses and were asked to get grey shoes so I made a grey necklace.

I also did a bunch of decorating tasks like this candy bar and decorated the cake stand and made a sign for the photo booth they had.

This has taken up quite a bit of time but now that my friend is married and the partying is over I will be moving onto other things.

Note: You can read about the rest of my adventures during my europe week on my other blog.

off and away

2011-06-09T20:47:00.002+01:00

I'm as packed as I can be for the night before a holiday begins. Tomorrow I'm off on my long planned trip to Germany for my lovely friend's wedding. Since it's not until 18th June I've planned to scuttle through Paris and Luxembourg on the way. ^^

I still find it odd to think I'm going to be in France tomorrow. I'm sure before I know it I'll find it odd that I've been and I'm back in England again so I'm gonna try and soak it in as much as I can. My camera is packed and the two sets of batteries are fully loaded. I suspect I'll do a number of posts to share my adventure with you all in the weeks after I get back.

As for now, I'm gonna curl up with a Merlin episode and then sleep the night away before my week-long adventure. I hope your week is somewhat exciting and joyous even if not as much as mine.

oh no!! :(

2011-06-04T10:38:00.004+01:00

I went to block a special project where I used hand dyed yarn in six different colours and when I dipped it in the water the colours ran badly. *sob* How do I fasten the colour!? It's currently resoaking in a vinegar/water mix with my fingers crossed.

It's been suggested that I wash and wash and let the colour run out as much as it's going to. The red is the main culprit. I don't know if I just didn't dye that one properly. I had it a dark pink before I found the pillar box red and re-dyed it. Red seems to be a troublesome colour when it comes to bleeding. And bleed it has. It looks like the crochet hook I used was too sharp! I'm hoping it will wash out a lot when I put it through its paces. I'm gonna just do the red area first for a while I think before I work on the whole lot.

an irish knitty evening

2011-05-24T06:14:00.008+01:00

I had last Friday off so I decided to go to Ireland for the weekend. Coz I can. ^^ After I arrived and checked in to my hotel I wandered down through the streets (with a little tourist shopping on the way) to Trinity College. There I met Sinéad, an irish knitter whose blog I read. She took me to a cute little knitting shop called This Is Knit. It was a very inviting store with shelves clearly displaying a variety of delicious yarn.

Sinéad showed me around pointing out different yarns that she liked and some irish crafted ones. Some of her other knitter friends met us there and they chatted while I looked around and chose what to spend some unexpected early received birthday money from family on.

I decided on two skeins of Malabrigo in Atardecer (about sport weight/5ply) which is 51% Silk and 49% Merino Wool. Warm and so soft. I quite like the colours and I'm currently thinking of making some kind of cowl. I also bought two balls of Studio Donegal Aran Tweed in yellow and grey. This 100% wool was spun in Ireland partly using irish wool. Aparently irish wool isn't great for knitting on it's own and is mostly used in making carpets.

Once my shopping was done, we went to Cafe Manila for some Filipino food. It was nice food, once I decided what to have, and we chatted for ages about all sorts and had a good laugh too. And of course we all pulled out our yarn works after the food was gone. :) Knitters.

I had a most lovely evening with these ladies, one of whom is a friend of Ysolda Teague too! (I plan to buy her new knitty pattern book Little Red in the City.) They were great fun and it was interesting to meet up with them.

Most of us went out to a pub afterwards where I tried a Guinness. I drank my half pint. It's a done thing. And it won't be done again. Ha ha. Gross stuff but I'm not a beer drinker anyway. It was fantastic to hang out with some irish people and get a regular irish experience. If I'm ever that way again, I'm happy to go for another round.

The rest of my weekend can be read about here and here.

pixie fix

2011-05-08T11:30:00.001+01:00

The lovely idea of my pixie beanie in the gorgeous colette has been put aside for quite a while as I'd got to the point where I was unhappy with the progress. I'd started declining too soon and it was getting tight on my head. I'd also found a mistake in the tricky to read leaf pattern part right at the beginning before I figured out how to interpret the pattern. I wasn't sure to which extent to frog it.

When I went on a holiday with my work family to the Cotswolds the other week. I decided to grab my pixie beanie to take along. I decided to frog back to the start of the decreases and keep the mishap at the beginning for that handmade touch. :P So I threaded my circular needle through the stitches where I wanted to frog to and then ... rip it, rip it. Then I got to work again. This time I added another two or three straight rounds before decreasing again. And I happily worked away with no internet to distract me. It really was quite lovely.
I'm now attempting to round off the leaves to enter into a straight knit as I decrease to my pixie point. I must be into the pixie idea at the moment because I finally found these shoes for the wedding I'm a part of next month. They even had 'pixie' in the title.

Now that I'm in a job where I work 40hrs a week I have to readjust my free time. All in all it's pretty good for full time work (and work is going well) but after I play on the internet a bit or walk to the shops I realise I haven't got as much time for crafting as I've had in the past few years. I am managing to work some in. I have a couple of secret projects on the go which I obviously can't show you just yet. I've also been busy booking a Europe week (including the wedding at it's end).

One crafty thing I thoroughly miss is a big craft store with all sorts in the one place. Where I am now there is a little thread shop, a little wool shop, a little art shop and a little scrapbooking shop. Limited supplies. *sigh* As for people to sit around a knit with...sadly there's no ravelry groups near by but I have found some local groups (you have to pay to go to!). I'm going to a craft group tomorrow night though that is a 'bring your project and we'll sit around crafting' type of gathering so there'll probably be various crafts. I'm looking forward to that. Other than that I'll just keep up my own crafting coz that's what I do.

:) Happy Mother's Day to my Mum! xo

adjusting

2011-04-10T21:01:00.003+01:00

I made it to the UK--finally! It took an extra 25hrs on top of an already 28hr journey. Delayed in Malaysia. But I have now had my opening week and boy was it a bit of a jolt to the system. Oh how I've loved my 30hrs or less per week jobs! This one will be 40hrs regularly but last week was 43hrs with the dad away for my first week. Getting use to new routines, a new environment in a new country, new people and helping care for a toddler and twin babies has been full on. And all that after my extended journey. Phew! Hopefully this week will flow a bit better and I'll feel more and more settled as time goes by. I made it to Canterbury for a shopping trip. I particularly needed more clean tops for the twins to slobber and spew on. ;) One top I got was this grey cardigan. I quite like it. The way it is now. I just finished adjusting it. Can you tell? It use to have double buttons all the way down. But I didn't like it all buttoned up and thought it looked a little odd mostly undone so I cut the buttons off and sewed together all the button holes that I didn't want there. I also took off the knitted belt/tie coz it just didn't suit my shape and cut the belt loops off. Now I think it makes a lovely swing jacket. It's about half wool too so will give me a good bit of warmth on cooler days. The only downfall now is the sleeves. I love the length of them but when I put it on for this photo, over another long sleeve top, I had to drag it up my arms. Why do half the tops here seem to have such skinny sleeves? Give us some room. Otherwise I'm most happy with it.

extension

2011-03-16T21:24:00.004Z

I bought this bag a while ago when I was roaming artfire.com. That's the hub where my online shop sits. I was flicking through one of the sellers I like, Rainbow Swilrz, when I came across this. I think I may have waited a day just to make sure but I laughed when I first saw it and just had to have it. It is just so me! The little monster is so cute. I got the nice sunny yellow colour. My excuse was that bright colours will be needed in the UK. My only issue with it was that the strap wasn't long enough so even at its maximum stretch it sat higher on my hip than I liked. Thus the long planned finally done extension.
I had hoped to find a cute but somewhat matching fabric for this project. However, since I leave the country in less than two weeks I decided to make do with something I had in stock. Using a bit of a vague idea in my head and a bit more thought than my last project, I got to work cutting, ironing and sewing. I had already planned to add a phone pocket on the strap coz there's not one inside and it makes for easier access. The first one I made and sewed on was actually too small to fit my current phone so I unpicked it and used a different method and added more space to it. Then I remembered I wanted it lower. So I unpicked again and resewed it in the right place. Finally I cut the strap and sewed this piece in.

I made it longer than I needed so I had a bit of room to adjust it. Now I can make it sit at a happier more comfortable height. The second phone pocket worked much better this time too. It snuggly fits my phone and will hopefully fit the one I'll be using in the UK without it falling out. Now my bag is ready for it's UK adventure too.

fabric bash

2011-03-13T05:16:00.003Z

I leave my hometown in two weeks. Two weeks!! I'm beginning to pack and had a few pens floating around. So last night I pulled out my sewing machine and chose some fabric from my collection and had a little bash. Poor mishandled fabric. With a little bit of thought--really just a little--I started hacking fabric, ironing some heat'n'bond on (to hold it still and add some stiffness), and sewing here and there. I was aiming for something small and skinny. It was trickier than I imagined but I did come to some sort of conclusion. It's by no means a masterpiece but it will suffice.
My ideas were a bit flawed. It was hard to sew it skinny on my machine. The outcome was bodgy job. Wonky zip and rough sewing. One tag is twisted. I had to hand sew each end of the zip where there was still open gaps because of misplanning.

In after thought I could have done the lining different so the inside zip edge was covered too. But it was a quick decision started a bit late in the evening for a decent job. Ha ha. It will hold my pens though so it will do it's job. I have one more little craft project and then I probably won't do any more until I'm on the plane to the UK.

moving sale

2011-03-05T06:56:00.002Z

I'm moving to the UK at the end of the month. Off for a working adventure. So everything in my artfire store is 30% off until Friday 25th March (Australian time). So swing by and pick yourself up a bargain!

Products will still be available when I am overseas but will be back to their regular price.

Don't miss your chance for a goodie at an excellent price at kelgell creations.

tiny seahorse

2011-02-28T02:01:00.007Z

Here I mentioned starting a project for a special someone. Well, it's finished and been given. I visited one of my best friends this week and this little guy was for her newest little girl born last month.
Designed as I crocheted I had a bit of challenge getting the shape I wanted. I even cut his neck off and unpulled some and re-crocheted it shorter and wider. I did that because his neck was a bit floppy so I changed the shape a bit and packed it tighter with stuffing. I also did a cute little tummy patch so it would stick out. I then did this cool wavy fin thing from his head right down his back. I was about to do some little fins for arms when I decided I'd google 'seahorse' and see what they actually looked like to get the fins right. Only, I discovered they don't really have fins....or big wavy bits down their backs. Oops. So I changed it again to be a better representation. I cut off the wavy bit and crocheted some little ... umm... nobly bits for his head and gave hime a nice little dorsal fin.
Here's his cute little head. I went with little black buttons for his pupils. With his tail, I just crocheted a straight tube that got wider and turned into his body. Then, after stuffing it, I just twirled the tail lots pulling it into shape. It's not as spiral-like as I was intending. I was even thinking of stitching it in place so it would stay but I decided it looked better like this. It should be flexible coz they use their tails to hold onto seaweed and stuff.

Okay, so Tiny isn't really into toys yet but it still makes a cute picture. The day will come when she finds the seahorse interesting and wants to play and then he will be lovingly sucked on and stretched and tossed around. Ü

leafy neck wrap

2011-02-03T23:03:00.001Z

It's done! I finally got around to blocking the edging. I needed to stretch it out as much as possible. With it blocked I could get around to sewing it to the main part. I needed to squish the stitching at the button end so it would reach right to the end. I also decided to crochet along the top just to give it an edge and squish the to button end there too so it was a nice rectangle shape. Then I ironed it flat. A bit of trying and retrying with the buttons. Nice ones I had. Fake metal with a swirly pattern that suit this project well. The photo here has only three but I ended up going with four coz it sits better when done up. I do it up along the long top edge where the leaf edge begins and it looks like the edging goes all the way around.
I like it. ^^ I like the leafy pattern. It was a fairly simple pattern to knit. I just had to keep track of where I was up to and pay attention. It knit up fairly quick using Patons Wilderness in the green colouring whatever it's called. It's 10ply or so and I used 8mm needles. Oh, I just used a stitch pattern from my Knitting & Crochet Bible and an edging from there too. It's pretty basic. A fancy kind of casual to wear though.

new wrap

2011-02-02T04:25:00.002Z

Here's my travel friendly needle/hook wrap. I finished it by the weekend as predicted. It has pockets at both ends so I can buy lots more. Or perhaps home all my current ones when the projects are complete. I stitched it with two colours--brown and blue. As I was stitching the pockets on the second end I realised I was going to run out of blue. So I picked and chose which lines I was going to sew and which ones I'd skip and went until the thread ran out. Instead of having the same pockets on both sides, one has some larger pockets which actually worked out well. When I did my rough measurements I used my knitpro crochet hooks. I didn't realise that the metal double pointed needles were bigger. Bit of a d'oh. But if I slant them over in the biggest pocket, they fit. Yay.
Then to close it you fold it in half which stops all the hooks and needles falling out.

I designed it to then fold in uneven thirds so it's flat meaning that I can store my circular needles in here too.

It makes a niftly little carry case that is a great size for travelling with. Perfect to tuck away in my luggage when I head off to the UK. And since I was making a trip to Melbourne to visit some friends I decided to go a bit earlier and visit Morris & Sons and add two 2.75mm circulars and a 3mm hook to my collection. Oh yeah, found some nice metal necklace clasps and decided to add one to this to hold it closed. Different and interesting and a little bit fancy. I'm very happy with this.

dying in luxury

2011-01-28T07:33:00.005Z

I have a rainbow project in mind and wanted to use Bendigo Woollen Mills Luxury. Warm and soft. But I didn't need 200gms of the colours I wanted so my sister suggested I get white and dye it myself. So that's what I did.
I bought three balls of Frost and split them into six skeins and then got cooking.

The first lot I soaked in a vinegar water mix for half an hour and then dropped in some yellow food colouring. Only, since I had it soaking already the colour disappeared from the water before I could mix it properly. So I added some cochlea food colouring to go with orange.

And did some more colours. This time lifting the yarn out of the water, putting the dye in the water and then the yarn back in. It dyed more evenly though most colours have a few shades. The green has some speckles of white but I kinda like it.

The day was nice so I hung my work out to dry. It took a bit longer than I thought and I was almost late to my nephew, Zachary's, first birthday party. I was mostly happy except, even though using 1.5 bottles of cochlea food dye, I still got pink. Thanks to my sister, again, I realised pillar box red is what I was after. I knew I didn't want rose pink but did you know not all supermarkets stock pillar box red? Yeah, didn't want pink so back to the stove.

Cochlea overdyed with pillar box red. I dyed it once but it had a bit too much pink showing through so I went back for another round. Ha. I was too rushed this time. I didn't soak it long and probably didn't cook it long enough either. Ding. Ding. Round three.

You usually get a bit of dye in the wash. This pic isn't so bad. The one before it was really red.

After a wash it needs a good rinse. It seemed to take ages for the water to finally run clear. But when it was done and dry... Oo oo. ^^ Rainbow Luxury!!! Oh, hand-balled yarn is so lovely and round. Watched a few movies getting it that way too.

Now I just have to wait for my black on back order so I can begin.

new starts

2011-01-25T23:43:00.002Z

Started this new amigirumi this week. A little something special for a new little someone. :b Not telling what it is though. He he he.

Started this one a couple of days ago. This one is going to be my new travel-friendly needle/hook case. Since getting some KnitPro circulars for Christmas I've discovered the awesomeness of them not only in use but also in transport. They'll fit in here alongside my crochet hooks which are also from the nice KnitPro selection. I'll show you this project in detail when it's done. I'm estimating it'll be finished by the end of the week.

I'm also working on another project I'll show you later. The pixie beanie is aside at the moment. I'm not sure it's currently turning out as I'd hoped. I'll get back to it later. Won't need it's warmth for a while yet.

making a pixie

2011-01-12T05:11:00.005Z

I had an idea in my head for a beanie. I had the perfect yarn in my stash just waiting. And then came Christmas. My younger bro and his wife gave me a couple of knit pro 3.75mm circular needles. Oh they're divine! I'm definitely going to buy some more sometime. New year's day (the day after our family Christmas) I got started. I did a 6 row knit roll on the bottom. I think now I should have done a bit more than that but no matter. I'm doing one section of a twin leaf pattern like a streak up the beanie that I will wear off centre. After my roll I garter stitched for about 6 rows to stop the roll. In the garter rows I also did a section a 2x2 ribbing opposite the twin leaf streak. It's there for a little extra stretch and for interest.

Here is my current standing. I stuffed the leaf pattern at the bottom a bit so it's a bit out of sorts on one side but I realised too late to frog it. So far the twin leaf is not showing up so well but I plan to block this section when I'm done. Mostly I think it's because of the colours in the yarn which is the gorgeous Colinette Cadenza in Toscana. It has a lovely green base with smudges of rainbow colours. I love it. It's perfect for a pixie beanie. I'm just starting to shape the top now.

It should look something like this when I'm done. I'm keeping track of what I'm doing so I can possibly make it again and maybe even attempt to write it up and share it.

the quilt

2011-01-04T22:04:00.005Z

Since the quilt for my first niece took way longer than expected and I end up giving it to her for Christmas 9mths after her birth, I've made it tradition. Each of my nieces and nephews have received an Auntie-Kelly-made quilt for their first Christmas. This Christmas just gone was Zachary's first. So here's the quilt I made for him.

I found the fabric I used for the back side and loved the cogs. I decided I had to do robots with his theme colour being red. I played around with some sketches until I came up with this design and then with the border sewn on I laid out newspaper and did the sketch to the size I needed it. Then I sorted through my fabric stash and cut out the appropriate pieces. I cut out some cogs for the big robot to tie it in with the backing. I hand stitched the eyes for a different effect and also stitched on button buttons for texture. I stuffed it with sheet polyester stuff that I actually split in half to make it thinner. It insulates really well so the quilt will keep him very cosy in the winter. I stitched it all up and happily gave the robot friends to Zachary.

He happily recieved it. He seemed particularly cheery after opening this present. I'm not sure how much that means this not quite one year old likes the actual present but it made me feel good. I like the robots. And I love Zachary.

made for christmas

2011-01-03T00:52:00.003Z

Here's a couple of gifts I made for Christmas. My 2yo neice has become very girly after discovering necklaces and dresses so I made her this necklace. I got the idea from one I'd seen another little girl wearing. I bought a few wooden beads and some buttons but mostly used what I had in my stock. It's funky, colourful, kiddish and fun. Apparently she wasn't too keen on wearing it until her little brother grabbed it. Unfortunately it broke in the struggle so is now slightly shorter. I wasn't quite sure that two cotton threads with beads would be very strong. Oh well.

And here is the Granny Square Cushion cover I've been working on for ages. I started out making this for myself with some super fat acrylic yarn coz I wanted it to take shape quickly. That was...oh early to mid last year. I used a 9mm hook too. Anyways, when I did some possession culling in my last move I decided not to keep it but instead make it a Christmas present for my 10yo neice.

I eventually got the pieces done and attached together in a row. It took me a while to get the lining right. It just didn't work as simply as I had imagined. I lined it with a scrap peice of blue/grey knitted fabric so it has a coloured base when you see the holes rather than the white of the cushion. Neat tip I got from Lucy.

Also went and bought some big buttons to fasten it with. Big buttons are more expensive than I thought though. I settled for these ones coz they weren't quite as much as the others and the colours match alright. They give it a little glamour too.

There is also the traditional handmade present by me for family 1st Christmases. But I'll save that one for another post.

bobbles

2010-12-28T22:04:00.003Z

I've been into bobbles lately. You know, hair ties that have things on them. A friend said she liked them too so I thought I'd get her some for Christmas. They're not so easy to find though. If you don't want real kiddish ones anyway. So I made some. Simply put some funky buttons onto hat elastic. Unfortunately I forgot to take photos of the ones I made my friend. They were really cool I thought. I did make one for myself with these buttons though which I also really like. I'm planning to go by Spotlight today to get some buttons for a Christmas project and I think I might just get a little distracted... ^^

wearing blueberries

2010-12-27T06:42:00.003Z

Blueberries for my feet! I've been working on these a while now. They are made from Moda Vera Noir that I split into two balls and doubled the knitting thickness. This also stopped them from striping and instead made them a speckly blueberry colour as well as doubled the progress speed. I made up my own pattern. Just a simple checkerboard with 3k 3p on top of the foot. I knit these toe-up which is I think I like better. I didn't have enough yarn to make them very long and in fact, decided I needed to use other yarn for a cuff so I'd have enough blueberry yarn for another whole sock. So I used the Moda Vera Noir left over from my first pair.
These ones are short and cosy. Love wool socks coz they do such a good job at keeping my toes warm. I'm gonna need more since I'm moving to the UK next year. I have two lots of sock yarn waiting though so I shall be casting on another pair soon enough. I'm off to flick through the pages at ravelry ^^

handmade decorations

2010-12-17T22:06:00.003Z

This is one of my projects that I've been working on this Christmas season. Most, however, are presents so I won't show you until January. But I also decided to make some decorations. Some are better than others and I also got a case of lazyitis and couldn't be bothered changing the colour in my sewing machine so some of the sewing is a little odd in colour matching. I still think they look quite cute and unique. I stuffed them a little too to make them a little less 2D and purposefully frayed the edges. And I'm posting the pic to add a little Aussie christmas cheer to my page. See the sunshine? That's Aussie Christmas. No white Christmas here ....EVER! :) They're predicting 26 degrees for Christmas Day. Yay.

If you want to see some more awesome handmade Christmas decorations check out Lucy's work at Attic 24!

christmas sale

2010-12-04T22:00:00.000Z

It's 20 days till Christmas so I'm having a 20% off sale on everything in my shop!!

Why not swing by and take a look at my handmade items?

20% off for 20 days

www.kelgellcreations.artfire.com

Catch a glimpse of some of my products in my shop window to the left of this post. <=

Sale ends Christmas Day!

cowl necklace

2010-11-30T06:11:00.005Z

Started this cherry red cowl necklace inspired by raveler, Adrienne Krey. She knitted hers. That's why I say inspired. I crocheted mine and changed it a little bit. I thought it looked interesting and would make a great spring necklace as it won't be as warm as a scarf but will keep my neck a little warmer than none. I finished it last night and wore it for the first time today--the last day of spring. Ha ha.

It's crocheted from one ongoing strand from leftover BWM Classic Cherry. I made the neck patch holey on mine to let a little more air in. It has five eye-shaped strands each one shorter than the next. It makes for an interesting burst of colour and it's so light to wear.

first felting

2010-11-20T09:54:00.009Z

Back in July I went to the Bendigo Sheep and Wool Show. I ended up buying a bag full of fibre. Unspun stuff. Do you remember? Well the plan was to have a go at felting and since Saturday started a beautiful week of warm weather I decided to finally pull it out and have a go.

Researching the how-to for wet felting while I ate lunch and indulged in a chai latte.

After watching a tutorial, I laid out my bubble wrap and got started. I laid out two layers of the grey icelandic top. It was cheapest of the stuff I bought so it seemed wise to start with. However, I didn't want to make something pointless so of course I start with something not so simple for my first time. That's me for ya. :P The basic idea was a scarf. I meant to make it thinner but I miscalculated on how much it would shrink. I made it a little longer than the table. So that provided the first awkwardness. I then used some Garments and Gadgets Rainbow fibre to do simple squares as a feature. Being a scarf I decided to put them on both sides so had to flip the unfelted fibre mat providing awkwardness number two. This created a little bodge area I'll show you later. So I finally got it all laid out.

Next I dropped on a bit of hand soap randomly and poured on a bit of warm water then rolled it up. Rolling and squishing it with my fingers rubbed the fibres together inside. Enough of this and it matts together. When it's sufficiently felted you start the fulling process.

Fulling involves chucking the felted piece on the table over and over. Nice for some aggression release. If you have pent up aggression. Not common for me. I just had fun tossing it.

Then you stretch out the piece and rub all the areas over a bumpy surface. I just used the bubble wrap as my bumpy surface. This creates further shrinkage and also allows you to shape it a bit. Depending on the direction you rub it.

Ok, what next. Um, ... might just check the tutorial again. Ok, I admit I actually did those last two steps the other way around. I rubbed and then tossed. The tutorial said to do it the way I've listed it here. :) Oh well. Next time...

I then rinsed out the soap in warm water. Since my felt had gone cold the sudden temperature change creates further shrinkage/fulling or something. Then I made my part Felting Finish and Wool Wash concoction and saturated my felt in allowing it to soak in all the mix goodness. Then I wrung it and hung it on the line to dry.

When it was dry I steam ironed it flat and then trimmed the tacky edges. They really weren't very straight at all and cutting it neatened them up beautifully. You see, when I laid out the fibres and then tried to roll it, some of it stuck out the edges. I need to make sure I leave enough bubble wrap room around the edges so all the fibre felts properly.

Wa-lah! My first finished felted piece. A bit-too-short scarf. Ha ha. That grey icelandic top is a bit rough and scratchy too. It has such long rough fibres like course hair. It was the cheaper stuff though. First tries really are more of an experiment.

I do need to practice. There certainly is technique to it. I had a number of areas that are quite see-through when you hold them up to the light. Here's my bodge job. When I flipped it before felting this part moved a bit and I didn't re-lay it. Just kinda shoved it back together. So this area is particularly bad with the see-throughness. A bit of pulling and I reckon it would quite easily separate.

So of course I had to try again with some better quality stuff. I decided this while the grey scarf was drying on the line. Pulled out the purplish fibre from Garments and Gadgets that was given to me for my birthday and tried some simple squares. After a few more felting searches online, I laid these ones with thinner whisps of fibre and did four layers being cautious of the edges. They turned out much better. The fibres are finer and softer. Think I'll make some more of these and sew them together somehow. Oh, I did these squares in the right order too...with the fulling. Don't know that it made a difference.

how to order your dragon

2010-11-16T02:02:00.009Z

Remember I made a purple dragon for a softie swap five months ago? Well, I finally Facebooked the pictures the other week and one of my friends commented on it asking how much it would cost to make her one. After naming a price and assuring her it would mostly likely be a little different as I didn't use a pattern, she agreed and requested one in green. The little blighter is fully formed now, except for his firebreathing skills, and had his photo shoot today while taking his first flight.

ripple scarf

2010-11-08T21:59:00.004Z

As I was working away on my Ripple Afghan I would think, "This would make a nice simple scarf. I must make one when I'm done here." So I did.

This ripple scarf is crocheted from stuff I had. Cleckheaton pink, some left over BWM Mongolian (from the afghan), Sean Sheep light pink stuff I had still and the multicolour is BWM Luxury that was overdyed by my sister. It's all just the simple zigzag pattern with some little shell shapes on the ends to neaten it all up. It's now nicely folded and put aside waiting to head off to a future birthday girl.

underway

2010-11-05T22:09:00.003Z

I love variety. My craftyness is satisfiably varied which means I'm enjoying every moment. With Zach's quilt nicely started, I've decided to put it aside for a while and work on some other things that need to be done sooner.Here's a new dragon that's underway. I FBed photos of my purple one and had a friend request one in green. So I'm currently working on this order. Shouldn't keep my customer waiting too long.
I am delighted to be not only attending but also participating as a bridesmaid in my friend's wedding in GERMANY next June!! What a treat! I'm so happy I get to share this time with her and feel so privilleged to be asked to be a part of it all. This is my contribution from afar. She asked me to make the ring cushion and I plan to send it with her birthday/Christmas present in December. I love the fat embroidered ribbon. I was roaming Lincraft for ideas when I found this and got totally inspired. It's successfully underway and I shall do some more today.
And I'm still working on some designs that I'm gonna send into Phoenix Trading (a card company) to see if they want to buy some of my work. I had another burst of ideas so I've been getting them underway. I must soon send some in. No hope if I don't.

Ok, it's too lovely a day to sit here on my computer. I'm going back to crafting before implementing some of my other ideas for the day.

ending with stretch

2010-10-22T23:13:00.002+01:00

I've had my leafy neckwarmer hanging off my needles waiting for the cast off for at least a week or two now. I wanted to use the same elastic cast off I used on Ezra's mittens. It was easy to do and gave it a good stretch ending so it stretches like the rest of the knitting. Only I couldn't remember how I'd done it. So last night I finally decided to seach youtube again to find it. And so I did. And I did the cast off. And I thought I'd share it.
This is the youtube clip I found. I liked this one because you just keep knitting with your needles. No need to change to any other knitting tool. It's not complicated either.

K2, RnK2tog (Right needle knit two together--like you do the 'k' of the 'ssk'),

K1, RnK2tog, K1, RnK2tog, K1, RnK2tog...etc.

It stretches nicely. As much as the cast on end.

So now my neck warmer is ready for some blocking and edging. I found a leafy edging in my Knitting and Crochet Bible that I decided I must use. That's next on the needles.

What stretchy cast off do you like using?

teaser

2010-10-16T22:47:00.003+01:00

I had a lovely day pottering around the house yesterday. Just lovely. I've been working on my newest nephew's quilt. It's my tradition to make each niece and nephew a quilt for their first Christmas and Zachary's is only a few months away. So I sat down in my lounge a flicked through my fabrics and decided which ones to use and cut out all the shapes I need. I laid them all out on the background piece and placed a few final touches and then stepped back to observe. I was quite happy with what I saw. I took a few photos for a design map before pulling it to pieces to begin construction. I ironed the first layer of patches and it's now ready for some sewing.

No more posting pics of this. (The surprise is more for the parents than the boy who's currently 9mths.)You won't see the finished project until after it's given at Christmas.

new projects

2010-10-11T04:05:00.003+01:00

I wanted to do some yarn crafting the other day and decided I don't have enough choice. I've finished off some of the projects I've been doing or I'm up to weaving the ends in and so the projects on the go are limited. I like variety so I started some new projects.

New Knitting Project

I decided to use a ball of Patons Wilderness that I had. I decided to search ravelry to find a project I could do with just one skein. After looking for a while I settled on the idea of a neckwarmer. Then I can keep my neck warm on chilly spring days without having dangling scarf tails in my way. In the end I opted to make a rectangle with whatever pattern I like. So I pulled out my Knitting and Crochet Bible and found a nice leafy lace pattern and set to work. I don't think it's the best idea for me to knit patterns where I need to follow the instructions while watching a movie. I thought I'd done alright until I tried to knit more the next day and found I'd made a mistake a few rows back that through out the pattern. So I unpulled and set to work fixing and re-knitting what I'd done. I kept stuffing up and re-knitting a few rows. I even managed to mess up a straight row of purls! But I was watching another movie. Ha ha. Think I need to concentrate more on this pattern. I'm liking it though and my leafy neckwarmer is coming along quite fast since Wilderness is classified as super bulky.

New Crochet Project

I saw this while searching for the knitting idea and decided I had to try it too. Adrienne Krey wrote the pattern for knitters but I'm crocheting it coz then I can just work from the picture. So it's basically the same as hers but I altered the back piece. She had plain stocking stitch I think but I decided to make mine a little lacier looking for interest and to let the cool air come in a bit. It should be good for a spring day when it's still a bit cool but not cold enough for a scarf. It will eventually have five stands each shorter in length than the one below it.

So now I have a few more choices when I feel like pulling and twisting some yarn.

playing with masking fluid

2010-10-05T22:47:00.006+01:00

I've been doing some water painting lately. I've had it mind to do for ... well, all year actually. I went to Phoenix Trading party in January. Like a little selling group that comes to your home and you invite your friends over to come and look at stuff and have a bit of fun doing it. It happens with all sorts of stuff. Tupperware is probably the most popular. Phoenix Trading is a card, gift wrap and stationary type stuff. Mainly cards. The designs are all artworks drawn by a whole range of people all over the world. You can send in your designs and they pay if they choose to use one of yours. So I've finally been working on some designs myself.

I borrowed a couple of watercolour books from the library the other day and they both mention (with photos as well) the use of masking fluid. It looked great in the books. Useful and fun to use. So I found some in an art shop and tried it the other day.

After sketching my design in a grey watercolour pencil I painted the areas I wanted left white with the masking fluid. It's a rubber latex solution.

Once dry I painted over the area in watercolour using quite a bit of water in my mix.

Once that dried I rubbed and pulled the masking fluid off to reveal a nicely kept white space.

Then I got out my watercolour pencils and did some colouring.

Then I painted over it with water using my watercolour paint brushes which hold more water in the bristles than a regular paint brush. This turns my colouring into a paint texture. I don't do it like this much now. I tend to prefer this method...

I pick up the paint directly from the pencil and just paint it on. I think it gives a smoother look like regular watercolour painting. Sometimes colouring first and then painting with water can look a little streaky. Either way the pencils allow me to control the paint a lot more than using a tube.

I've done a few pictures now though this one was a bit of a quick do just to use my new masking fluid. Not as happy with it as with the others I've done. I think I'll do a couple more and then send them in and see if they like my work enough to buy it. Hopefully they do coz it would be fun to be "published" and the money will help me with my UK plans. In the meantime, I'm having fun.

completed and given

2010-10-03T06:47:00.004+01:00

My younger brother got married yesterday. It was a beautiful spring day and a lovely wedding and celebration. I've been working all year on an afghan as their wedding present so they can lounge cosily on their couches (which are light green and brown) and keep warm. They opened presents today so now I can finally show you.

It's just a basic zigzag pattern crocheted with Bendigo Woollen Mills Classic in Mongolia, Rafia, Light Eucalyptus, Mulga and Fern. I had a seven colour change pattern and each colour was two rows. I did eight repeats and then one row of the light eucalyptus so both edges were in the same colour. It was a great winter work as it kept me warm while I crocheted.

I begun in February this year and finished it about one week ago. It sure takes a while to craft something big. Unfortunately I didn't check my gauge as I went. Didn't even think about it. When I finished and laid it out I realised it fanned out wider at one end. D'oh. My crocheting had gotten looser as I went. Fortunately, I was able to get out the iron and give it a bit of a steam blocking on the tighter stitched end so I shaped it back into a rectangle. Phew!

It should look good in their house though and since it's 100% wool it should keep them toasty warm too. I used a 6mm hook so the stitches are fairly big making it fairly light for a pure wool afghan. My sister also knitted them stripy socks using two of the same colours so they match and will make sure their toes stay warm.

ezra's mittens

2010-09-19T08:55:00.004+01:00

I wore my mittens when I was up visiting family in Sydney. Four year old Ezra said he really liked them and asked if I could make him some. I said I'd make some for his birthday the following month. Of course he chose green for his mittens. I made them from a tencel. Cheap but nice green yarn that was also soft. I'm sure it won't be long before he's grown out of them. As kids go... Mostly crocheted, just with knitted ribbing on the bottom to for stretchy wrist hugging.

This is what I finally ended up with. It's really quite tricky making mittens without using a pattern to fit little hands that aren't here to try them on as I go. Thanks so much to the four year old I look after who tried them countless times as I crocheted, frogged, re-crocheted, repeat... as it goes... I finally got these done and posted. They look a little wonky but seem fine when they are on. Aparently they fit Ezra well and he loves them. He had trouble understanding why he wasn't allowed to go dig in the dirt while wearing them though. He he.

featured

2010-09-08T08:49:00.002+01:00

I had to drop by quickly and let you know one of my handmade items has been featured in an Artfire collection. Really because of colour but hey, it's still publicity. It's exciting too because it's my first time being featured anywhere. Check it out>> Rasberry Flavoured Collection

absence

2010-09-06T10:10:00.004+01:00

Just a quick note to anyone checking in... I won't be blogging much-if at all-in the next two weeks. I'm busy busy. My spare time is filled with sorting what's for my garage sale and what's to pack, packing, moving, garage sale and cleaning up good and proper and just to move across town. But I'll only be there for a matter of months before I head overseas. So both creating and posting is on the back burner until all this moving stuff is done and I'm settled in at my new residence. Catch ya on the other side!

hmm...

2010-09-02T23:45:00.004+01:00

Here's a little experimentation. I decided to make myself another little bag and try a few modifications. I've been thinking about inverting the bottom but not game to do it on ones I want to sell. I went ahead and tried it on this one as I thought it would work pretty well since the fabric is covered with circles. And that part I think works well. I'm not sure about the other part though...
I also inverted the handle but I'm not sure it works as well. It just looks ... inside out. Like I made a mistake. Not too bad, just a bit odd. I also did a dark blue contrast ribbon and saw some nice green buttons sitting on my desk and decided to sew them on rather than do a knot. Just matches the fabric theme. What do you think? Should I make some more with inverted bottoms? Do you like the inverted handle too? I'd be very appreciative of your opinions.

drool

2010-08-23T12:52:00.004+01:00

I decided to just take it easy tonight instead of thinking about what I need to do and how I can cross more things off my list. So I ended up looking at crocheted lace shawls on ravelry since I have a skein of lace weight from the Sheep and Wool Show I went to last month.

Ooo, I found some nice ones. This one grabbed my attention. Something like the sort of thing I was looking for. A triangle-shaped shawl, lacy and crocheted. Interesting pattern. It's Maia Shawl by Lisa Nakrent and published in Crochet Garden.

This one I loved instantly. It's called Gathering Leaves by Lily Go. I'm a foliage girl and I'm quite fond of green so this appeals to me quite stongly. But my skein of lace weight is more like the colour above with grey as well. This one here...well, I think I'd just HAVE to do it in green.

It's all dreaming at this stage though. I've got plenty on my plate at the moment. I'm moving house next month so organising myself for that. I've been accepted into an aupair program to go to the UK. I've gotta get onto getting my passport as my old one ran out last year. I've also gotta start an online course as a part of the program. So the plan is still to take this skein to the UK and work it there.

new stock

2010-08-15T07:27:00.003+01:00

Some for my shop. Some for some shoppers already! Some for me. It's been a delightful weekend. For about a week and a half I've been working on building my stockpile back up coz my project pouches have been quite popular amongst crafters. So I've had seven waiting to be listed. (I just remembered about those beanies too. Must list them.) On Friday I actually sold my last two from my shop so while it was raining Saturday afternoon I decided to get the others listed. I spent all afternoon doing it coz it takes a while. Check out the new variety...

But they're not all available as I've already sold two plus some other things from my store. Woohoo! I also finished up this little guy. Squidge the Jellyfish. He's cute. You can see better pics of him in my shop.

And new stock for me from my awesome sister! Knit Pro crochet hooks from Morris and Sons. You guys will appreciate these more as you're more likely to understand my delight. I had hoped to get some at the Bendigo Sheep and Wool show but I didn't see any there, nor hardly any circular needles. My sneaky sister must have decided to get me some behind my back. Not that I mind. Thanks Tam! ^^ Had to start a new jellyfish today to give them a go.

mum's scarf

2010-08-08T09:18:00.003+01:00

She wasn't too surprised to receive this for her birthday. It was a pattern from the book she gave me for my birthday. The Knitting and Crochet Bible. When I was flicking through it on the day I got it, she pointed at the scarf and accompanied it with a "Ooo, I like that!" So of course that's what she got. She did however 'oo' and 'ah' over the yarn I used. Pretty and so soft.

I used Moda Vera Picchio Dusk which is 70% Merino Superwash and 30% Silk. I quite liked the colours and the feel when they were on special one time so I bought the last two balls. They've been sitting waiting for a special project for quite a while and this scarf was perfect. Mum colours too. And I still have most of one ball left.

Yarn Fest -- The Loot

2010-08-02T02:30:00.004+01:00

It's the Yarn Fest finale! My loot from the Australian Sheep and Wool Show I went to a few weeks back in Bendigo. There seemed to be fibre everywhere this year; almost more than there was yarn. But maybe it's because I was simply noticing it more. Since the first shed we entered was a felting area and a lady there showed us how to do it (plus knowing I had a little fibre at home already) I decided on trying my hand at it. So I stocked up. It's all so soft and delicious looking. Lovely colours just awaiting my creativity to work its magic tranformation act on it.
I got the grey fibre from Ewe Give Me The Knits stall. It's Grey Icelandic Top 110g. It's a bit rougher than the other fibre I got but it was cheap and I think will be good to start with. It will also make a good background or mix with the purple grey I got for my birthday. The rest in the above picture is from the Garments and Gadgets stall. From the bottom of the pile we have Pure Merino black 200g. A great base to hilight with the other colours or if I want something very versatile. Black goes with almost anything. The green I just had to get! Green is a great colour but this one is Pure Merino Kelly Green 100g. How could I resist!? Besides, it's a beautiful shade. A grassy green. Next we have Pure Merino WB 07/34 50g. A rainbow mix for some fun, bright featuring detail-work. Then the lovely Pure Merino WB 07/37 50g which is a real citrusy colour. Mostly yellow with lime green. Finally, on the very top the shiney Mulberry Silk 20g for some shimmery detail-work. The bottle is some felting hair care. Felting Finish & Wool Wash. A wool wash and conditioner in one. It's no rinse, contains lanolin to inhibit piling and tea tree oil to inhibit moth damage and antifungal to prevent mould and mildew. Provides the finishing touch that leaves your work lovely and silky soft.

I did also buy some yarn. The first two skeins weren't labelled but the stall lady said they were pure wool. I liked the colours. They'll make good seacreature amigurumis. The third is fun treat. I got it from the IxCHel stall. 58g/550m of hand dyed Australian Cashmere (30%) and Merino (70%) in Whisper. Can't wait to work some kind of lacy item with it. I think I'll store it for my UK adventure. And then at the far right form another stall is 100g skein of Colinette toscana 55 which is 79% wool and 21% bamboo. I love the random mix of colour over a base of green.

I also got this little guy. He's gonna mark my stitches for me. :) I'll put him on a clip so I can hang him at the start of my row so I don't lose my place.

Now I need to get to work and turn my stash into products. I'm planning on heading overseas next year for a year or two adventure basing myself as a nanny in the UK. I can't afford storage for my stuff so I need to get rid of most of what I have. So no more buying yarn (unless it's for a specific request) or other needless things I'll just have to sort in a few months time. Besides, I need to save my dosh for airfares and the like.

Yarn Fest -- Fashion Show

2010-07-31T02:36:00.006+01:00

While at the Australian Sheep and Wool Show in Bendigo a few weeks back, Tam and I decided to make sure we saw the fashion show. They have some outrageous outfits--as all true fashion shows do--but my photos for the most crazy came out blurry.

There were still some odd looking outfits and the type of outfits that I imagine would be in a wool fashion show. I was quite surprised at how normal and nice some of the outfits were and found myself asking, "They're really made out of wool??"

Some kind of woollen fabric that drapes so well. I can't remember what they said it was.

I thought this one was pretty good for a specific-occasion-dress. Flag of my home country. Nice to see some 'Aussie' on clothes rather than 'USA' or other places that seem to be the in-fashion thing.

I was pretty impressed with this woollen bridal gown. I think this was one of the first pieces to be modelled that surprised me with its "that's woollen?" aspect. I don't much like the headpiece though. Why would you want feet up there?

I liked these ones. The first was my favourite entry for the highschoolers competition for a woollen garment that fit the Carnivale theme (of Brazil). The second is just cute. I like the colours too.

The butterfly dress. I think it was THE showpiece. The main event of the fashion show. It's quite spectacular and again surprises me with the woollen factor as it looks so light and whispy.

It was interesting to see how versitile wool can be. I already thought you could do more with wool than most people realised and here my ideas were expanded again! I love to see other's creativeness too. Creativity is expressed in so many ways.

cherry bolero

2010-07-25T05:15:00.002+01:00

Here's my finished cherry bolero. The first pic is as I wore it to the wedding I made it to wear to.

I based the design on the same one as my round yoke cardi but with a few alterations. It's short at the back. (That's why I often just call them "my sleeves".)

I was originally intending on doing a puff at the cuff but I couldn't get it to work. I think I could have with time but the wedding I was intending on wearing it to was fast approaching. So I went with a simpler option which I'm quite happy with as well. It's a bell sleeve with a shammrock picot edging. I also added a bit more to the neck, making a mini collar that sticks up and also has the shammrock picot edging.
It was perfect for adding warmth where I need it most as well as brightening up my black outfit. All without looking too casual.

And these little guys, Mr & Mrs Smith, knitted by Tam at my request (flower crocheted by me for identifying the Mrs) are happily with the newly weds. The story goes that my friends who got married had seen an echidna on each significant day of their relationship. One when he asked her out, one when he asked her to marry him... so these were the echidnas for their wedding day. Cute.

Yarn Fest -- Experience and On Show

2010-07-21T08:57:00.011+01:00

I went with Tammy to the Australian Sheep and Wool Show last Sunday in Bendigo. What a treat! We'd been saving for months to a spend up on some good stuff. Lots of pics. This is just the first lot. We didn't really visit the animal and farming area sticking to what interested us most...fibre and products.

First shed we went in had a big felting area with lots of display from wierd to amazing. Should have taken a photo of the wall hanging you can see just a little of near Tam's head. This lovely lady showed me the basics of felting which sound interesting and pretty easy and had me deciding to defintely give it a go.

In another shed there was spinning and you could have a go. It looks so simple but there is definitely technique to it. Practise required.

This year I decided to give it a go too. The man helping and an experienced spinner next to me were amazed at my first time work. They kept commenting on how well I was doing. I kept worrying the fibre was going to break and toward the end I was twisting it too much. Still, I felt pretty happy about my first handspun.

And of course there was shopping to do! Tammy bought more of a variety than I did. Shopping for button above. I spent most of my money in the stall below--Garments and Gadgets. Great stuff, interesting and excellent quality. Lots of colour choices too. Here I stocked up on fibre for felting and some special wool mix stuff to help. Now I've got additional stuff to go along with the purple/grey fibre Matt and Kylie gave me for my birthday. I'll show you my purchases in another post.

And then there was all the products! Some to buy, some in the many competitions that are a part of the show. I like to look for ideas...

These necklaces were really interesting and different. I quite liked them. I actually quite liked the simplicity and interest of the grey one with a little multicoloured patch off centre. Might have a go at that one day. And below is a hat I also liked and want to have a go at creating one the same shape.

This one was just intriguing. It's all felted.

These were interesting and looked yummy. Coils of potato, deep fried and with your choice of spice/salt. But for $5 I wasn't going to try one. Here's some competition stuff. I quite liked the Hey Diddle Diddle theme. But I still think the sheep in the sky should be a cow to complete the original rhyme. (The cat and the fiddle are still in the space ship on the side.)

Some crochet competition work on display.

A knitted hat and below Tam checks out the handspun entries.
And this one!! This one is simply amazing! I love it. A seadragon with great detail and colour, handfelted. I think it won first place in it's category.

More yarnie goodness to come....

dragon games

2010-07-14T11:05:00.006+01:00

That softie swap I participated in.... Well this is what I made.

Designing as I went, I crocheted him from pure wool; the multicoloured, which looks scaley and quite effective, is a Sean Sheep ball. Starting at his snout, where I did some raised stitches for a boney look, I stitched the purple back and forward for a while, then attached the multicolour and stitched that back and forward joining at the edges as I went. Then I'd stuff him a bit to see if he was the shape I wanted. I also bought appropriate eyes (hard to make such small cute eyes) and attached them before I got to doing the body. Once the body and tail were done and stuffed, I added ears, wings with more boney-look raised stitches and legs. I made the back legs with a round piece and a long piece for big animal-like back legs and gave him little front arm/legs. And I attached the wings at the base so they can flap around.

He seemed adventurous and curious and full of energy.

Still young though and yet to master a lot--including flying.

He has a bit of a temper but thankfully his fire-breathing hasn't come into full adult capabilities. He seems quite happy in his new home too where he's loved and played with.

crochet lessons

2010-07-03T02:11:00.002+01:00

My 10yo neice was eager for me to arrive and teach her some crochet. My 6yo nephew also wanted to learn. So I decided to take them shopping and get hooks and yarn. Of course once the word was out that if you were gonna learn to crochet you got some goods they were all eager.

Once home and waiting for lunch to get cooked we started. It was different than teaching my sister-in-law coz she had a better understanding in the first place. I had to explain each little thing a bit more. I didn't realise how much technique I used either like even just how I hold my crochet hook. Of course my 4yo nephew didn't really end up doing anything. I think he just didn't want to miss out by the 10yo, 8yo and 6yo slowly got the hang of it and are in the progress of making things. The 6yo was the first to get his head around it and the 10yo when I got to explaining it to her picked it up fairly easily too. Both of them have apparently sat and watched their mum do it which probably helps. More detailed coaching for the 8yo and he's going well too. All are improving every time they pick it up to do some more.

bear beanies

2010-06-30T10:24:00.002+01:00

I finished off four beanies last night. I think I got something wrong with the last one though. I'll have to remake it. Ü

They'll be for sale in my store mid July. As for now, I'm off on a holiday to Sydney!

potterings

2010-06-26T02:50:00.003+01:00

Mostly just been pottering around the last week with crochet. Going from project to project as I feel like it. I wanted to make something granny-squared and I'd bought some yarn ages ago to do it with. Thick, soft acrylic for fast crocheting. I decided to do a cushion cover and so I started...
Oh yeah, I've been working on stocking my store with some bear beanies. I'm close to completing a couple now. I just found out today that one of the bear beanies I've sold recently has had quite a bit of attraction and I've received a request for a notice/pamphlet to put up in a kindergarten. Might have to get busier with these...

And just for fun I've started this little goldfish from the amigurumi book I got for my birthday. After about 11 rounds I began altering the pattern. Ha ha.

I'm off to Sydney next Thursday to visit my older brother and his family for a week. Apparently my niece is eager for me to arrive and teach her some crochet.

softie surprise

2010-06-22T23:37:00.004+01:00

I received a parcel yesterday! I knew what it was...sort of. (I joined in a softie swap a month ago where you make a soft toy for another.) My handmade softie from Tameeka. I'd just checked her blog that day and she'd put up a sneak peek so I'm glad I didn't have to wait long to find out. It was prettily wrapped too. But more importantly, look what was inside...

Isn't he cute? Tameeka, you did such a wonderful job. I love his floppy ears and that he has a cute tummy to match. I like the fabric print used for them too and the fact that it's a random regular print. I like his cute little face as well. Just two eyes and a nose.

He's very friendly and polite. Doesn't talk a lot but that's ok. Millie makes up for it. Here he is meeting Millie. She likes to chatter while she does her knitting. But this little bunny is quite content to listen. He's also considering what name he'd like to be called while Millie is suggesting a long list of random possibilities.
So the softie swap ended yesterday. That's when we had to have them posted by. My little guy just made it. Posted him yesterday near the day's end. Phew! Safe journey, softie. Thanks for hosting it, Tab. It was fun! I look forward to seeing what everyone made...

and one for me!

2010-06-18T12:11:00.002+01:00

Now that I've got the swing of making these project pouches...and I've stocked my store with a few...I got around to making myself another one. (Coz one's not really enough. He he.) I just had to buy this gorgeous autumny fabric when I saw it. It's so nice. I'll have fun using it. It's filled with yarn for making bear beanies for my store. In time for knitting group tomorrow morning. Ü

photo shoot

2010-06-15T08:10:00.005+01:00

I organised to have a photo shoot with one of my friends who is into photography last Sunday. On Saturday I'd got busy increasing the stock level and here is some of our team work.

Project Pouches by me and are available in my online store. Though if you want one you may have to stop by pretty soon. I've already sold two!

Photos by the talented Andrew Gregg. You can check out more of his photos here.

More joy...I've made and sold a bear beanie and have another requested order to work on. Business is starting to swing into action. How exciting!

feeling professional

2010-06-12T11:45:00.005+01:00

I've been busy today. Spending my Saturday making for my online store. Whilst I was amongst my creating process, I had an idea. Actually I first had the idea the other day but I realised I had what I needed and I should go ahead and do it. So I did!

Logo tags!! They look good on my project pouches and I shall put them on other things. Looks professional and it's promotional too. Ü

swift action

2010-06-07T03:26:00.003+01:00

After an email from my softie swap partner I knew exactly what soft toy to make. I decided on some yarn that was still in it's skein so naturally I had to ball it first. So I pulled out my swift and got to work.
He he. Yeah, I don't own a real swift. I usually visit my sister to ball skeins but I wanted to use this right now! So I had to go with my make shift version. But after untwisting it and finding the ends, even turning it inside out, this method proved quite efficient. It was just the right length to comfortable fit my lower leg without being too tight or too droopy. I was happily cosy balling while watching an episode of Quantam Leap. My softie is underway and I'm excited to be making it. Happy to have a bunch of yarn projects on the go again.

happy birthday to me!

2010-06-01T05:13:00.003+01:00

Every year I buy myself a birthday present. Usually something to wear on my actual birthday. This year...
Found this on my doorstep when I got home from work this afternoon. (Naturally the colours are a little different than you see. It's a nice deep, brightish red...less orange than the pic.) It's more than I'll need but no problems with that. It's Bendigo Woollen Mills Classic Cherry Red in 8ply (DK/light worsted). I'm sad that I have too much on today to pull out my crochet hook. Maybe tomorrow I can fit some in...AFTER I tidy the house.

I plan to make a lovely bolero with this yummy yarn to wear to a friend's wedding late July (in the middle of winter). I have some ideas in my head but we'll see if I change my mind as I go.

thoughtfulness of friends

2010-05-31T10:37:00.002+01:00

I turned 30 on the weekend. Celebrated with friends and family. Had a great time. I plan to post party photos when I get them. I didn't take any myself. I just wanted to share the joy of my loot and the thoughtfulness of my friends in their giving.

I got some lovely flowers, so bright and cheery. Yummies. Presents that remind me of the givers. Useful things like that heat bag with a knitted pink cover, Spotlight giftcard (will be so fun to spend), hoodie, jewellry and funky mugs. Handmades--the softie doll and a little beautifully glazed starfish shaped pottery bowl.

Treasures!! One's both useful and thrilling that I look foward to getting into. Bunches of yarn and even some fibre from various givers. The anticipated Knitting and Crochet Bible--Mum and Dad got it at my suggestion back in early April. The first half of the book is knitting and the second half crochet and each section contains heaps of nifty knowledge, quite a range of different stitiches and patterns, ideas and useful tips and projects to make. My brother and his wife thoughtfully sent me a book of the cutest arigurumi patterns and I am quite eager to get started on some of them. And a great, long-time friend gave me the sewing book which is antique treasure of sewing know-how. I also have been assured by one friend that a present is still to come and another present involves waiting for a specific time...which leaves me curious and anticipating.

My friends have done so well in making me feel specifically thought of in their present giving which also makes me feel special and loved. Thanks all.

mystery sold

2010-05-28T09:31:00.003+01:00

Last night I went to Australia's Biggest Morning Tea! Well, it was the annual event (participated in all around the country--mostly actually in the morning, unlike the one I went to) to raise funds for the Cancer Council. Some ladies from my church organised one that also involved a mystery auction. We had to bring a gift up to $10, pre-wrapped and ready for auction. I was working on some handmades for my gift. We had the most scrumptious "morning tea" and chatted and then it was time to bid for a mystery! I think mine sold for around $16 and contained the following...

Two gorgeous crocheted beanies. Perfect mystery gifts if you ask me. For one, this is raising money for cancer research and it's nigh winter and chilly. The little kiddy-sized one with ears is so cute and crocheted from a free pattern by Just Be Happy.

The other was a design-as-I-crochet. I used some of my Sean Sheep wool. It turned out well that the lady who bought it loved it. Loved the colour. Loved the design. Loved beanies. That was a bonus. She said she was gonna look up my online store too as I'd tagged them both with my logo and care instructions.

As for me, I won a smaller gift. Not particularly my style of thing but that's how a mystery auction goes. You just never know what you're actually going to get. But it's all for a good cause and was a good night.

satisfying

2010-05-23T05:43:00.002+01:00

Oh yarn and sticks, how I've missed thee! With all this birthday celebration organising and creating I haven't squeezed in much yarn work lately. I decided to go to an event being held at my church building which is Australia's Biggest "Morning" Tea to raise money for the Cancer Council. (The quotation marks are because it's being held in the evening.) Part of the night will include a mystery auction. We are suppose to take something wrapped to be auctioned so I decided to make some things with the yarn in my stash. This is my current progress. Two things. I'll show you after the event takes place. I started these yesterday and boy, does it feel good for my fingers to be hookin' away. One I'm designing as I go and the other is from a pattern from the lovely, Just Be Happy!
Also, as my birthday is coming up, Spotlight decided to give me a present. How nice of them! Well, they gave me $10 to spend. I've been wanting a basket for a while and eyeing a particular one off. They decided to have a sale too on just a few of the baskets and I quite liked this one. It was cheaper than the one I was originally looking at so I didn't have to throw in as much extra cash. It's loveliness sits beside the couch I most often sit in, next to my mother/child lamp, and holds my current yarnie projects. One day I'd love to get a funky cosy chair to replace my dodgey couch. Then I would have the perfect little yarning corner.

Ok, back to my hookin' now. My fingers haven't had enough today.

the simple and the time consuming

2010-05-13T13:04:00.007+01:00

Creating comes in all forms and sizes. You don't have to be a crafter or have an artistic flare to be creative....though I am and it's my most enjoyed form of creating.

I'm having a 1920s party to see out my 20s later this month and I've been spending most of my free time creating for that. As is common for me I find my projects are more time consuming than expected. In the last couple of weeks it's been my dress for the event. I'm not giving anything away. You'll have to wait for photos from the celebration to see but I can say that it's gone from dress making to costume making. I was originally thinking it might turn out nice enough to re-wear another time. But alas, I am me and rarely follow a pattern exactly. This leads to interesting hiccups and cover ups. So in my mind its more of just a costume now. I've got it to the wearable stage but am now moving on to my hairpiece (and other things that need organising). Then if I run out of time to do the detailing I have in mind it at least won't look unfinished. So to stuff I will show you...

I bought some packets of basic painted wooden beads while they were on special some time ago with the intention of doing just as pictured. In the spirit of the creating moment I threaded the red beads onto a double strand of plastic elastic yesterday. It's that thin rubbery stuff..not wrapped in cotton like hat elastic. Probably not quite plastic either but it rhymes so nicely. ^^ Such a simple necklace but fun with a touch of elegance.

And the yarn!! I keep forgetting to take a photo of it so when I remembered today, during daylight, I made sure I did. I participated in a yarn swap a while ago where you're given a partner and you send each other some yarn. It's most exciting knowing a parcel is coming, and receiving it, not knowing exactly what goodness you're gonna be blessed with. Well, Alessandra from Just Be Happy was the organiser and my swap partner. She sent me these lovely, pure wool skeins of deep, dark purple and a matching lighter shade. I have some ideas floating around but they are patiently waiting as I'm too busy this month with other makings. (Plus I know I'm getting a "Knit and Crochet Bible" for my birthday!) Alessandra has some lovely things on her blog. It's a good quick read and frequently updated. She also has an etsy store where you can buy heaps of neat things and cute amigurumis (stuffed crocheted toys). You should take a squiz! And speaking of swaps, there's a fun new one open for Aussies to participate in. I found it--and joined it--today. We're swapping softies! So if you love to make a softie or want to give it a first go, why not do so with the added fun of giving and surprises? Head on over to Small Things for more details. Don't think about it too long as you've only got till the 22 May to sign up!

Well...back to the makings for me. Don't ya just love creating?

toys for sale

2010-05-09T09:23:00.002+01:00

Two loveables that are happy to finally be up for adoption. They've been hanging out at my house impatiently waiting the chance to find their own home.

They're very excited to finally be ready to go and are looking forward to their own adventures with a new lovely friend. Go ahead and check them out at my store! Maybe you know someone who would love them.

complete works

2010-05-02T05:50:00.005+01:00

Ta-dah! My round yoke cardi is complete. Done in two months which I think is quite a good effort since my basic socks took 10mths. I decided to edge it three times over to give a slight increase to the width and height of the collar. I think it also gives it a nicer look.
I also did the line of double crochets (2 in 1 stitch, skip a stitch) like the example picture. I also did this at the end of each sleeve as well. It's nice and warm too and I'm very happy with it. And it's great to wear in the office...as was my motivation for making it in the first place. Yes, smart and warm.

Surprise! Here's that amigurumi I was going to surprise you with ages ago. I finally completed it this week. Isn't he cute? He's a baby dragon....no fire yet. He still destroyed the block castle I made. He was a bit fiddly to make. Lots of different parts to sew together. Made him from an idea in my head and leftover yarn. I ended up putting a bit a wire across the top of his wings so they would hold a nicer position.

I came across a bunch of buttons in my stash when I was finding one for my round yoke cardi. I had a lot of grey ones so I decided to string them together with a rubber elastic thread. I find the necklace just a little tight so I may rework it yet. But it was sufficient for the day I wanted to wear it.

And my last surprise I forgot to take a photo of. Darn it! I had every intention of doing so but found out I didn't. (I've not got access to the net at home at the moment so have to do my surfing in bulk which I'm only managing about once a week.) I participated in a yarn swap that the lovely Alessandra of Just Be Happy organised. She ended up being my partner and I got a parcel in the mail last week. I love receiving parcels. Or real letters even for that matter. She sent me two pretty skeins of purple. A yummy dark one and a matching light one in pure wool made in Peru. I've already got some ideas bouncing around but they'll have to wait. It's May now and my 30th celebration preparations are now in full swing. Gotta get my dress made and finish organising decorations and food and music. It will be a busy month.

new yarns

2010-04-24T04:02:00.002+01:00

Completed! I got my Basic Socks finished AND my birthday is still a month away. Good on me. :) That's 10 months for my first pair. They're a little dodgy. Not the best toe end on the second one coz I winged it (as I couldn't remember how I'd done the first one and have lost the original pattern) and so it's a little funny shaped when not on my foot. The shortrow heels left eyelets at the joins. But you know...it's my first pair and you can't actually tell unless you look pretty darn close. I'm happy enough. They're lovely and warm and they have the pride of being made by my hands.
So with my socks and my loop scarf off the sticks, I simply HAD TO pick up some new yarn projects. I also HAD TO use my Sean Sheep Prarie yarn I mentioned in my last post. So I started this hat. It's from a Lincraft pattern sheet. It's called Surprise Crochet Hat. When I picked it up I asked where the Surprise yarn was. The assistant got a little "oh dear"-like saying that Surprise was last season and it's no longer in stock and proceeded to remove all the other pattern sheets for Surprise yarn off the shelf. I just muttered to myself, "Well, I still want the pattern. I'll just use something else. He he." Funny. I'm kinda vague in my pattern following most of the time anyway. I'm liking the way the Sean Sheep wool is turning out. Funky.

And now that I've got my head around how a sock knit-up works I've slung some more sock yarn around my needles. This time I'm going toe-up starting with Judy's Magic Cast-on in Moda Vera Noir. I can't remember what the colour is called but I'm calling them my blueberry socks coz with splitting the ball into two so I can knit it double-yarned for a thicker quicker knit, the colours are blending most lovely rather than simply striping. I much prefer this. Makes for a more gorgeous coloured sock. I'm guessing a pattern...or rather, figuring it out as I go. So stay tuned...

loop scarf

2010-04-16T10:46:00.004+01:00

Finished my loop scarf the other week. Finally wove the ends in so I could wear it this week. I've been a bit annoyed about the curl. In the photo below you can see just the underside because the edges curl due to most of the scarf being stocking stitch with eyelets. I thought the ribbing on the edges would help...but it doesn't. I still wore it. Then I woke up today with an idea...
I ironed where the ribbing meets the stocking stitch and it worked wonders. I'm thrilled! Much happier with it now and I quite like the brightness of the blue. It's pretty good on length. I could get away with it being a little shorter. It's nice to have something warm around my neck without dangly ends. I shall have to make another some time.

I'm also thrilled today because I came across a lovely new product. I was shopping at Big W (actually searching for a present) and couldn't resist buying wool for myself! Ever the knitter! I've never seen it before. It's Sean Sheep Wool! The colours are lovely...but I can't show you coz I don't have my camera with me. I bought two Prairie, one Stirling and one Rockbank, all lots of mixed colours. All pure Aussie wool except Rockbank. It's 70% wool and 30% Soybean. And what's also thrilling is it cost just $2.86 per 50g ball. Cheaper than the pure wool balls at Spotlight and prettier colours. Oooo the delights of wool! Check out their website and see what I mean.

am i a rebel?

2010-03-30T10:46:00.004+01:00

The last three Sundays when I've gone to church, I've sat right up the back.

My church building is kinda like two halls joined together with a big opening in between. The front half is the main area where all the pews are. The back half is our area for standing around and talking after the service with a cuppa and a bikkie. (It's also used for other things as well as a "passage way" to the toilets and the creche room.) Along the very back wall are some seats. I've been sitting there. Actually a few people seem to sit up the back. Some for more official reasons (like if anyone needs help, or someone wanders in off the street during the service...or whatever). Some teenagers come and sit with me and we have some soft chatter before they go to their group time. Sometimes parents bring their little kids up the back for a while too.

During the sermon, I've been pulling out my knitting. Now perhaps I just worry too much about what people may think of me but up the back I feel more free to just be me. To be real. Actually, it would be a pretty good guess to say less people than I think would arch up about me knitting in church than I originally thought. I've had a few inquiries--during the service--about what I'm knitting. I don't think my pastor minds. The small group I go to during the week is at his house and I knit/crochet all the time there but still participate in the discussion. It's not like we knitters can't handle some needles or a hook AND talk and listen. We're a talented bunch. ^^

Up the back, I'm not confined to a pew. I can stand or sit whenever I want without looking like a nong. I can even sit cross-legged on the floor if I wish. I also like seeing the church--the people--in the regular, everyday aspect. Up the back you see parents dealing with kids, brief, quiet interactions, people grabbing a drink of water from the kitchen or a tissue, heating up a bottle... Stuff that makes us, church, look like regular people. It makes me feel less like I need to meet some structured stiffened (self-inflicted) false idea of what kind of Christian I should be in church.

I also like it coz I can knit. I'm not a distraction to those around me. And by mid service, after the singing when it's sit and listen time, I'm hitting my mid-morning slump. Knitting keeps my hands busy which helps me focus. So I find knitting during the service helpful, productive and relaxing.

So am I a rebel?? Yeah, I'd probably say I was. But not in a bad way. And I honestly don't think God minds. I'm just trying to be me and learn how to connect with God in the reality of me.
And this is my little project carry bag. I made it a month or so ago. Made of some red cordaroy and coloured spotty fabric I had. Pouch shaped with a circular bottom, drawstring with a yellow button and a handy wristlet handle. I've yet to attempt walking and knitting but I reckon it would work well. This little bag has been to the Sunday morning church service with me. And look how long my second sock is getting. You can see I'm past the heel (pink on this sock) and knitting the foot. Two months to go.

visiting

2010-03-27T08:30:00.005Z

I have been doing a bit of crafting. See my WIPs bars=> They're going up and I'm not lying about the progress. I haven't taken any photos though. My cardigan is one sleeve complete now and my special project is coming along well. Working on my socks a bit more to hopefully get them done by my birthday in May and my loop scarf is so close to being done! I'm gonna work on that tonight while I watch Twilight again and peddle the bike.

I went to my sister's today. Played with the kids. Took them to the playground and there was a community market. I let my 2.5yo nephew play on the jumpy house and bought them each a new jumper for 50c each. And for me... happily spent $10 on four great Mem Fox books. They let me choose 4 instead of being confined to what was in the prepacked four pack. Yay. I chose Wilfred Gordon McDonald Partridge (a lovely, cute story I've wanted for ages), Possum Magic (a good Aussie classic), Hattie and the Fox (a simple, repetative but funny story), and SailAway--The ballard of Skip and Nell (hadn't read this one before but it's good Aussie story too) and Mem Fox stories have great illustrations too. Took the kids home for lunch and bed while Tammy and I set ourselves up with fresh baked raisin bread, knitting and Lord of the Rings--Return of the King. But the nephew decided not to sleep so we didn't watch much movie. I did progress on some of my projects though.

when the store shouts

2010-03-12T23:47:00.002Z

I do like Spotlight. The have a good range of all sorts of creative, crafty and homey things. Hours pass before I realise it when I go in for a quick look. And then, every so often they send me a $10 voucher! So generous of them. Well, they sent me one this week, so last night I went shopping.
This is what Spotlight shouted me. I'd already decided I was going to buy some wool needles coz I lost mine the other week and some bits and pieces to work on a present (not shown to keep them a secret). But thanks to a tip from my sister I decided to treat myself and bought some more sock wool (reduced to $7 from $12) as well. I'm gonna have some lovely blue socks at some point. And, of course, once you're in the store you are enticed to spend more than the voucher is worth. I spent closer to $20 all up but to my credit, what I spent beyond my voucher was supplies for the present. What is pictured is all I bought for myself.

I also got my pattern book back so I started the sleeve of my cardigan and now that I have a wool needle again I can finish that amigurumi that's almost done.

workin'

2010-03-10T08:25:00.003Z

I've been workin' for real (as in paid job)! I got a new job which fills in my hours around my nanny work quite nicely. Data entry in an office and I'm enjoying it. It means I don't have near as much free time now that I'm workin' 32hrs a week all up. But I'm not complaining.

I've been workin' on various projects still. Always find the time for that. I just love making the yarn and hook/needles dance together. It's fun to watch a useful, beautiful creation come into existance too.

And my projects are workin'!! Yay for that.

My new-job-inspired project, my round yoke cardi. The office I work in is cold and this here is the last photo I took of my progression. Though I've been workin' on it quite a bit (coz I want to wear it already) so it's actually as long as my light grey top there now. I keep taking progression photos and before I get to putting them up here I've done a considerable amount more!! ^^ Left my patterns at my sister's though so I can't start the sleeves yet.

My special project is underway and looking good so far. I've not quite done one entire pattern cycle yet and I have no photos either so you'll just have to hang on for news about that one.

The snapdragon flip-tops are progressing well, don't you think? Work on them has slowed a little. They got sided for a while when I started my cardigan. They look like an actual glove now. Bit strange but will look awesome when the flip-top is done.
Rather happy with them except for this. It was a bit disappointing when I turned my hand over for the first time. I moved some stitches around on the needles so this didn't happen on the top but this one would have been from the start of the round. How do you stop this from happening? I tried to make sure I kept it tight but still...grr. So now I'm thinking of how to fix it. My sister suggested picking up new stitches up the ladder with a crochet hook. I think I'll try that but does anyone have other suggestions of how to deal with this frustration?

And speaking of workin', I haven't done any today. I rearranged the lounge so I could turn on the heater again and set up a cosy little corner with my lamp and yarn bag. My projects are waiting for me. I'm pretty sure they're starting to get impatient...

re-creating

2010-03-01T01:20:00.004Z

The chill is here. First day of autumn and I can sure feel it. It would be a pretty decent day if it weren't for the wind. Gusty and cold. The kind that seems like it blows right through you to your bones. Brr. Well, I'm onto it with my cardigan that I'm making. Yesterday I added to my cooler weather wear. ALL my jeans have holes in them so none feel particularly decent to wear to work. (The office I work in is for a plastering business so the dress code isn't real fancy.) So I got to fixing a pair of my jeans. Creatively of course.
These ones were actually mens jeans that I bought. Nothing wrong particularly except a huge rip in the knee. But since I needed to fix them, I thought I'd just go ahead and re-create them. I shaped the legs so they follow my curves more, added a fancy patch to the knee and gave it some "wings". I wanted to flare the bottoms a bit so I added triangles to both legs. They didn't end up flaring that much and basically sit like bootleg cut which is fine too.

The patch I decided to cut in the shape of a leaf that is on the pattern of fabric I used. You can see a similar one just at the top of the triangle there. It covers the hole nicely in an interesting way. Now the shoddy looking jeans look creatively smart.

in the makings

2010-02-27T08:25:00.002Z

Oh am I suppose to be working on that list to the right??? :x

Honestly, I have done some but yes, I've also started a few other projects. ^^ I couldn't resist ordering some wool for me when I ordered the colours I wanted for the afghan I'm making for a special present. I just loved this cardigan. I found it on ravelry and as the office where I got my new job is quite a bit cooler than the outside temperature, I'm wanting nice-ish warm clothes sooner. (Last day of summer tomorrow!) I had quite a time trying to decide what colour to make it. So many nice ones. I was going to make a light grey coz it would go with lots in my wardrobe but at the last minute I changed my mind. (I'd like a grey cardigan but grey is an easy colour to find in the shops.) So I ordered BWMs Rustic in Damson 8ply. So lovely. It looks plain purple in the photo but it has flecks of blue through it.

I got a big parcel of wool on Friday and had to start first chance I got. Excitement is a great motivator. I've already done from the neck to underarms and am now working on the body. It's sitting a little funny but hopefully with some blocking and edging it will be most satisfactory.

I also bought some more cheap yarn today to go with my Norweigan slippers I'm making. I'd started a while ago but stopped as I wasn't going to have enough yarn and the one I was using was an old one from my stash that I can't find anymore. Today I found some pure soft nylon to go with it (nylon for the hard wearing the slippers will get this winter and beyond).

And I'm almost finished another amigurumi (I put the lion on hold as he's not quite turning out like I'd envisioned). But I shall save this new one as a surprise as he's very nearly done.

I have plenty of projects to keep me going for months now. Though I'm sure I'll start more yet. I do have the afghan waiting...with a time limit.