What Am I

going to be doing today, hopefully some of this! I found this book on fishpond.com.au and thought it was perfect for me. I have some other crochet books but they dont show step by step instructions in some of them so this will hopefully help me out. I will try and take some progress pics over the weekend. I am hoping that I can get the gist of it pretty quickly, wish me luck!

2009 - Fo No. 33

A little pair of mittens for a 1 year old's xmas pressie.
Pattern: Wee Mittens from Vintage for Modern Babies
Size: 1-3 years
Yarn: Whisper by Heirloom (acrylic but very soft)
Made on the 9th of November, only an hour or two of knitting and seaming.
The only problem I had with the pattern was for the top decreasing which was from 23 stitches down to 16 stitches. I kept ending up with an extra 2 stitches at the end so just did a k3tog at the end. It turned out just nicely so I did the same on the other mitten.
I am now halfway through knitting the Vintage Pixie Cap to go with the mittens so hopefully Miss Enja can wear them next winter since she is a petite little girl! I am sure her mum will love the fact she doesnt need to handwash them either. Okay off to do some work in the garden before it gets too hot (again). I really dislike this week of weather where we have been in the high 30's all week. Isabelle has her swimming lesson tonight so I asked Lachie to join us and they can both have a swim before and afterwards to cool off a bit. Should be fun for them.
Happy knitting!

Parsley and Beet pattern

Look what I have in my hot little hands, the Parsley and Beet pattern from Jodie, who makes wonderful wonderful toys. Ever since I saw those little elephants playing in their red gumboots I wanted to make one and had been eagerly awaiting their release. Jodie wasted no time in posting it off to me and it arrived this morning. I also bought the flannel with the pattern as it is much easier for me. If you would like to buy one just pop on over to her etsy store. I know this weekend that I will be buying a few little bits and pieces to complete the material list for this project. Now I just hope I can make mine look as cute and adorable as Jodie does. Thank you Jodie for designing such a cute toy, although they dont seem like just toys sometimes do they!!

A Belated Birthday Present To Me!

I bought these 2 books last week as a late birthday present to myself. I needed a pick me up and these were the perfect thing (and I did put some money aside for them each week). Anyhow back to the books - first up the Vintage Knits for Modern Babies. Oh my goodness, beautiful beautiful photos showing a lot of the actual projects, not just one picture as in some of those books and you wonder how they really look. Some of the projects even go up to 3 years of age but some are just up to 12 months. Lots of little hats, cardigans, mittens, 2 blankets which are gorgeous, toy bunnies, coathangers, a cape, a dress and a few other wonderful things. I have already started a matinee jacket out of it for a 1 year old's birthday next month so I should have it finished before then.

The next book - Easy Kids Knits by Claire Montgomerie who wrote Easy Baby Knits. Another wonderful discovery of patterns in this book. I love it so much and you know why - because it has patterns in it that fit a 10 year old (finally I say) and since Isabelle is around that size I have some new patterns that I can knit up for her. I do plan on knitting the hooded cardigan, the ribbed jacket with pockets and a beautiful 4 ply cabled sweater that is very vintage looking. I have started the swing cardigan already as you can see in the photo above in a deep red color. I also love the smock top too. The patterns are all listed on ravelry under their pattern section so I have marked a few to cast on eventually. There are also wonderful patterns for boys in this book too so if you want some ideas to knit up then grab a copy! I cant wait to start a few new projects already but I am going to try and knit up the first 2 I have mentioned first.

Oh and the little cats above are some wonderful discoveries I made at the Djerriwarrh Festival this morning. A friend of mine runs a stall around Melton and her friend had been making little flower pincushions, little kitties, little owls and monsters, and some teddies so I grabbed some. These 2 kitties were made of the softest felt and at $2 each I thought they were wonderful. Apparently she was trying to clear her stock as she made them over a period of 8 months when she had depression so I think it was wonderful to support her, having been through that horrible dark period myself. Okay off to do some knitting under the airconditioning as 31 degrees is a bit hot for me and tomorrow is going to be hotter! Happy weekend!!

2009 - FO No. 32

Tropical Lily is finally finished although to be truthful I didnt knit on it the whole time since I started it. I finished it up today and Isabelle wore it this afternoon after the weather had cooled down a tinsy bit. I have to say I love the way the colors formed a stripey sequence and I only used 4 and a half balls of the cotton, so now have to find something else to knit with the other 5 and a half. I found this pattern on ravelry where a lady who had upsized it for her daughter had listed the changes so I could knit it for Isabelle a bit bigger. I mostly followed her changes but added a few of my own, like omitting the straps at the back and adding some press studs instead so it sat nicer at the back and Isabelle wouldnt have to deal with the straps. I also made it a bit longer in the front bodice than the pattern said and didnt do as many repeats in the bottom part as the changed instructions had so it turned out a bit shorter. I think the length is perfect for Isabelle and I would recommend anyone make this pattern for the little girls in their life! If you would like to knit one up just go to tikkifabricaddict.blogspot.com or find it on ravelry. Happy knitting!

Day 31 ....

is the last day of Blogtoberfest! I had some days where I couldnt really think of anything to write that would be interesting enough to read, and yet I still didnt pull out all those UFO's and take pictures of them. Must do that before xmas I think and become a bit more organised. Anyway it has been lots of fun discovering some new and exciting bloggy friends out there and seeing little bits and pieces that you would probably not have blogged about. I will try to make the effort to blog more I think in future and I must say a big thank you to Tinniegirl and Curly Pops for organising such a wonderfully fun month too! On that note I leave you with a picture of my little green witchypoo all dressed up to go trick or treating! Happy Halloween!