Craft & Stitches Show

I woke up yesterday morning expecting it to be raining but it was nice and sunny instead, so I called mum and we ventured into the city for a few hours to see what goodies were awaiting us at the Stitches and Craft Show. We arrived at 11:30 and it was quite busy. I indulged in my sewing hobby and of course made some knitting purchases too. There were not a lot of knitting stalls, probably about 5 I think.
So first up is the fabric that I bought from a shop called Fragrant Cottage which is located in Warrnambool, which I have never been to before. I must take the kids one day to go whale watching. The floral fabrics on the top and the
fabric to the left are from that shop. They had such beautiful things, and I bought these just before we were leaving. The red floral is actually like a plastic coated fabric to make a beautiful bag. Also in the picture is a teddy bear kit which I intend to make. It is so cute, but I am sure that I will need to concentrate when making her. I have never made a big bear before, so hopefully I dont mess it up. Underneath all of the fabric is a little strawberry hat kit which I purchased from Wondoflex who are located in Malvern. They had lots of Opal sock yarns too, but nothing really stood out that I wanted.
Next up, I found the bookstore. There were a lot of knitting books, some of which I had seen on the internet but are not found in bookstores here in Melbourne. I found 3 that I liked and were a lot cheaper than I had seen them. First up is Knitting Nature, which has a few patterns in it that I really like, and mum saw a few that she liked in it too. Hopefully the ones we like are not riddled with errors like a few that I have read about. I also got Knitting Vintage Socks by Nancy Bush. Great sock patterns and also different heel techniques too. Cannot wait to try those out. I also bought Stephanie's book, At Knit's End, which was on my sidetable at the time so no photo. You all know what it looks like by now anyway. Very funny! The sock yarn that I purchased is from a stall that I cannot remember the name of , but it is a cotton yarn and it feels wonderful. It is called On Line. I assume that is what it is called, a bit hard to read the name. Beautiful colors, and I loved the yellow colorway too, but thought I only need one so I restrained myself there, but then I found the Touch stall which had beautiful handdyed yarns, and silk, and angora rabbit yarn, and well you can all imagine. Any knitter could spend a lot of money in there, and quite a few people were ordering yarn to be sent to them to make jumpers that were on display. I only walked away with the pink skein which is a 4 ply yarn handpainted yarn for some more socks. Well I think that is all, nothing else to show but I think I will be busy over the next few weeks.
I also started the second square last night for Samantha, and hopefully by the end of the week I shall have a nice parcel to send to her. I will have to make some green squares too to add to the blue ones. I also started the front of Hannah's cardigan last night, and accomplished about 30 rows. Hopefully after I knit up some more squares I will be able to do some more on it. By the way thank you for the well wishes, I am feeling much better. The headache seemed to have disappeared yesterday, hence the trip to the city. I did not sleep too good last night from coughing so today will be a trip to get some cough lollies to settle it down and then hopefully the cough will subside a bit. Well I am going to do some housework and then get organized to knit up some more squares. I hope that you all have a lovely day.

Parcels

The postman has been to my door three times this week. I had completely forgotten about one order, but the other two were expected. Apart from my Knitscene mag, I received Lucinda Guy's other knitting book, Handknits for Kids, and then today I received Rowan 39 and Jaegar Handknits 07. Both of the kid's knits books are great, but Rowan was a bit disappointing.

First up is Brill, which is a nice cable knit, and they all go up to sizes 4 to 5 years with a bit of room. This little jumper is so cute, and does not look too hard. Next up is Skate which is on the to do list for Isabelle. It is a hoodie so I will have to make her one, and I have some colors in my stash so I wont have to buy anymore. Always a good thing, the stash reducing plan.












My favourites from Lucinda's book is the Wildflower Sweater, the Monsieur Cat, the Jack Frost Jacket, and the Dinosaur Jumper. They are just so cute. I did have pictures of the Mousie Mousie but I must have deleted them by mistake. They are gorgeous and I will have to make some for presents I think.




And this is the My House blanket which Isabelle seems quite taken with. I do not think I will be making this for a while, even though it only uses 13 balls of 4 ply so it would not be too heavy. The pattern is a bit hard to see in the picture but it is quite nice. She has other adorable knits in the book too, so I recommend if you have small children this is a great book and the Jaegar book has some other nice knits in it too, but if I took a photo of all of them this post would be oh so long. Well thats it for now, must get the armholes done on the back of my cardigan. It is knitting up quite quickly, and sinceI am trying to rest on the couch today I should get some done. My voice was starting to break up today and I was worried I would lose it all together. Maybe if this head cold gets any worse I will be going to see my doctor. I have Isabelle's birthday party next weekend so I want to be better by then. Lachlan is home today too since his managed to catch the same thing as me. I hope that I am better by tomorrow as I trying to decide whether to go to the Stitches and Craft show in Melbourne. I know that they have a few knitting stalls, and lots of great patchwork shops, so if I feel okay maybe I will pop in. I didn't go last year, but I did go the year before and bought some little patterns and kits to sew. Well that is about it for now and I hope that you all have a lovely weekend too!

Stripes, and more Stripes

My sickness turned into a head cold yesterday, and I sort of felt like my head had been hit with a hammer, but after a few Panadol I started feeling a bit better. Since I could not sleep after Paul left for work at 5:30am I decided to stay up and start some knitting. On the left is the progress of my stripey cardigan. It is so easy and the darker color is just plain garter stitch rows and the light green is stocking stitch. This is knit up on size 5mm needles so it should not take too long. The pattern is only 32 rows and this is the first repeat which I finished last night.




I also started the Garter Stitch Jacket from Moda Issue 7, Pattern 9. I am making this for my friend's daughter, Hannah, who turns 1 at the end of August, and I still have not had a chance to visit with her. I could have on Monday, but no my sickness turned into a head cold, so I have been running around with tissues in my pockets trying to clear my nasal passages and downing the Panadol tablets to alleviate the headache that goes with it. At least the nauseous dizzy feeling has subsided now, so that makes me able to knit. This is the back piece which I started yesterday and finished last night. I am making the 12 mth size so it should fit her for quite a while. At least the colors are turning out today in the pictures. We are supposed to be having a 17 degree day but so far it is overcast and gray again. We even got some rain last night, which we desperately need, so my garden should be happy. At least my pictures turned out better than when there is sunshine so maybe I need to take them when there is no sun out. I also ordered my yarn from Bendigo Woollen Mills for my Central Park Hoodie, since I received the magazine on Tuesday. It looks like an easy knit. I cant start it until September, so I should be able to finish up these two cardigans by then. Well I will have to finish one by then won't I. I will have to finish up some more squares for Annette's blanket, which Samantha is making . I have completed one square but would like to make some more, and to reduce my stash. I think it has started overflowing and you know that feeling when you look at it and think my goodness I will need to be 110 to knit all this up, well that is how I feel at the moment. I need to learn to knit faster, or make more hours in the day to be able to knit it all.

And lastly, but not least here is a picture of some slippers that my mum knitted up for Isabelle on Sunday. They only took her about an hour to knit up, and now she is making some for Lachlan in black. He specified that he did not want any other color so poor mum will need to knit them during the day. She has probably finished them by now. The colors are actually a bright purple on top similar to this writing, and a lovely lighter purple on the bottom. Isabelle likes wearing them, and she said they are very comfortable. Well that is all for now, so I had better go and do some more knitting.

Tuesday 25th July

On Sunday Isabelle and I went for a drive to Kyneton to visit at Meskills Woolworks. They are in the old Butter Factory 96 Piper Street, Kyneton, if anybody would like to visit them. They breed their own sheep and dye their own yarns. They do send out yarn sample cards as well. I actually went there to purchase some of their woollen underlay blankets for the kid's beds. They are so thick and soft and you can just put them in the washing machine and they fluff right back up again. We have one on our bed too. They also make ugg boots and undergarments, sock yarn, and socks, and a few other things too. I could not help myself when I saw some different yarns there that I had not seen before. On the left above is the yarn I bought for a cardigan which I am going to knit. They had one already made in the shop in the same colors, and since I love green I could not help myself, so I had to buy the yarn for it. I am waiting on the pattern to come in the mail as the owner's son could not find it anywhere on Sunday. I called the shop yesterday and the owner is sending it to me in the mail. It is a free pattern and I loved the stripes in it. Anyway, apart from being sidetracked the green yarn is their normal 8 ply pure wool, and the other is Touch Yarns Alpine Mohair, Super Fine Kid Mohair which they import from New Zealand. It is so soft and the colors are gorgeous.

On the left is a skein of their natural 8 ply yarn with green mixed through it. I also bought my mum a skein of it, but with blue through it. It is a 1 kilo skein and they cost $35.00 which I thought was a bargain. And on the right is the wool that I bought to make Lachlan a jacket. It is actually called slate and looks a bit bright in the picture. Blues never show up properly on my screen for some reason. I bought 2 packets so I will have some left over for another garment.
After I had bought all my purchases Isabelle and I drove back home to see all the thunderclouds above Melbourne waiting to greet us. At least it was nice and cozy in the car. When we got home it was pouring with rain and so black, it seemed like it was nearly nighttime already. I dropped mum's yarn off to her and headed off home. Isabelle and I must have caught a bug because for the rest of the day and yesterday we did not feel well, sort of a nauseous off balance sort of thing. I am hoping it is gone now. Paul seemed to think that I was stressing about Lachlan too much but Isabelle had it too so I don't think it was caused by that.

Last night I actually started to feel a bit better so I finished up the last sleeve on Isabelle's jumper and put it on her this morning so I could take a photo. It is so foggy outside that we can't see past the front fence, so the photo is a bit dark. It is hard to photo the cables on the cuffs and the edging too, but it fits perfectly.
I am hoping that my cardigan pattern comes in the mail today so that I can start on that, and also do some more on Paul's jumper as well.

By the way, Paul and I appreciate all of the wonderful and helpful comments from you all about Lachlan. You bloggers are so great and it really does feel like hearing from a friend when you feel depressed and frustrated about it, so thank you all for your wonderful advice and encouraging comments. Hopefully things will improve.

Saturday 22nd July

Well we had a good surprise party for Paul's mum's 60th. She did not expect it at all and she loved her mountain bike. Yes, Paul's mum is very active and swims 200 laps a day and walks 2 hours a day. She is very fit. We all had a nice BBQ lunch, then sweets and cake. I felt like having a nap after eating so much food. We even had a soccer match after lunch. Here is the family photo which Kathryn and I took so we managed to avoid our picture being taken. Isabelle is at the bottom, Thomas is in the green top with Paul's mum, Hayden is in the blue top, Paul's sister Kate is standing behind him, Lachlan is in the grey jacket next to her, Paul (he is in the handknitted jumper which I made about 11 years ago), Jamie (the younger brother) with Benjamin, Wayne (the older brother) next to him with Laura in the pink top. The kids all had a great time and did not want to go home. We even had a soccer match after lunch with almost everybody joining in, suffice to say that there were a few casualties during the match. I think that the kids will sleep well tonight. They are both showered and in their pyjamas already. Nothing better than a nice day spent with relatives enjoying each others company. I like watching all the nieces and nephews play together, they all get along pretty well.

Thank you so much too for the advice regarding Lachlan. I am hoping that after Monday to go to the school with him and see if there is anything we can do to improve his behaviour. I really do hope so. Time and persistance seems to be the way to go and I have absolutely no intention of giving up on him. Perserverance (or nagging) as Lachlan would call it is going to be a full time job I think.

Onto the knitting, well I did not get much knitted last night as the kids and I went to Werribee Plaza and did some shopping, and then went out for tea. By the time I came home it was 8:00 so I only got a few rows done on the other sleeve. I am hoping that I can get it finished by tomorrow so it will be off the list of things to do. I did take my knitting with me today but did not get any time to do any. Attending parties seems to make the time go so fast. Well I hope that you all have a nice weekend.

Friday 21st July

What a beautiful sunny day. Just one of those days where you feel good about everything and get motivated to do more than one thing. Well I have nearly completed the Rainy Day sweater. Just one more sleeve to go, and I have already done the edging for it when I did the other sleeve. It is all sewn together apart from the one sleeve which I am determined to finish tonight after dinner. Only 76 rows to do. I also started the Splish Splash Jacket from Miss Bea's Colors book. I love her books and have knitted quite a few for Isabelle and a few for my nephews too. I want to make a few more of the designs from these books before Isabelle outgrows them. I am using Zara merino in a blue/seagreen colorway which is just gorgeous. I love this color. It should not take too long to make I hope.

I also bought a new book on Wednesday from the local knitting shop in Melton South. Sue who is the owner of Bargain Box Fabrics also owns the wool shop there, and is currently moving it all into one shop. I always pop in for a look to see what's new. Well on Wednesday I spotted this Baby Velvet DK yarn in this colorway, which was a new one. They also had the blue/purple colorway and a green/purple colorway which were both gorgeous too. Seeing as though there are a few cousins now due in September and later on in the year I thought I would buy the new Moda Impact Issue 7 book which has really simple easy baby patterns to knit with this yarn. It also uses Color 4 Me yarn too, and since I had purchased some Color 4 Me yarn at Lincraft when it was on sale in the exact same colorway I thought they would go well together to make this cardigan. Nice and easy garter stitch, and the yarn makes it effective. I also ordered my Knitscene magazine from The Wool Shack, and it was sent this morning, so I should have it by Thursday. I can then sit down and decide what yarn to use for the Central Park Hoodie. Gee I think my to do list is getting a bit too long. I have done a bit more on Paul's jumper but it will have to wait until next week to see some more work done it, as I am going to be a little bit busy on the weekend. Hopefully I can get some good photos of the party tomorrow and I will be able to post them on Sunday.

(Do not read on if you do not want to hear me have a whinge) My son Lachlan just started high school this year and has been having a bit of a hard time. They changed him into another homegroup to see if his situation would improve, but it seems that he has become a bit disruptive with the other kids. I am having a hard time with it all as it makes it hard when you really do not know how to fix these problems and to make your child understand that high school education is important. He has been in a few fights and last term actually lost a molar. One child in particular always picks Lachlan out and Lachlan only takes so much and then fights back. He was in another fight today, and the teacher said that because it happened in class that he would have to be suspended with the other boy as well. So on Monday I will have him home and hopefully he can catch up on school work which he does not seem to like at the moment. Writing seems to be his biggest problem. He does not like writing things down, or keeping his school work neatly written and well explained. He likes doing the practical things like in woodwork and cooking, but he just gets lazy with doing the theory part, and I know that he is not stupid so it is quite frustrating. He is actually quite bright, but seems to be very disruptive at the moment and easily distracted. Other mums have told me that they have a child like this, and they are still dealing with it in Year 10. My goodness I hope Lachlan improves by then. Anyone with teenage boys know of any problem solving methods to these problems would be greatly appreciated by me, as I never had a brother so it makes it hard to know how to deal with it. Is it just hormones or boredom maybe? How do you know how much to do and how many rules to lay down. We have made lots of rules and deals I suppose you would call them, but nothing seems to work. Is there any other solutions to these problems.

Well I had better stop complaining or you won't come back to visit. Hopefully I will find a solution and be able to help Lachlan cope better with high school or otherwise I think he may be repeating Year 7 next year. I hope not though. Well I hope that you all have a lovely weekend and no little problems to bother you.

Mr. Pringle

We had a visitor yesterday from kindergarten. Mr. Pringle is the kinder bear that gets to go home with one of the children when their name has been picked out. Isabelle has been waiting for a while, and was so excited when I picked her up yesterday that she finally had her turn. Mr. Pringle is wearing a baby jacket that I had made in the picture, and it fit him perfectly. Even Lachlan was a bit excited I think to have a new visitor. She even gave him a powdering with the powder (even though it was a bit too much) and she made up one of her doll's cots for him to sleep in next to her bed. Maybe he should stay more often as Isabelle stayed in her own bed all night and did not wake up once. Isabelle even made him a scarf on her new knitting machine, but we did not a photo of his scarf. It only took about 10 minutes to make. I wish that I could knit that quickly. By the way I am on to the first sleeve of Isabelle's Rainy Day sweater already. I could have it finished by the weekend for Paul's mum's 60th birthday party on Saturday. Here is hoping. Well we had bettter go and get Mr. Pringle ready to return to kindergarten. Isabelle is not too happy about him returning but she has had lots of fun with him. Happy knitting!

Tuesday 18th July

This is the progress that I have made on Isabelle's new jumper. The pattern is from Miss Bea's Rainy Day and it is called the Rainy Day Sweater. I am knitting the largest size but I did add an extra 10 rows before the armholes for length as Isabelle has a long torso and I want this jumper to last for quite a while. The edgings for the bottom and sleeves are knitted afterwards and stitched on. Since this photo was taken I have now gotten up to the armhole decreasing for the front. Miss Bea's are always quick knits which I love.


I also took a picture of the goodies that I bought at the quilt in on Saturday. The weather was miserable and I felt really tired for some reason so I did not stay for the whole day. I left at about 1:30 and went home with Isabelle. On the left is a little trinket which hangs from your scissors. I love this blue colorway and it does look much nicer in real life. It was very hard to capture with my camera. Above is the bag pattern that I bought. Sorry about the flash in the middle of the picture. I will try and make one of these soon. I have a passion for handmade things, and bags are one of my favourites. I also finished up the square for Samantha but I could not take a good picture of it for some reason. I knitted it in the lozenge pattern so it is stretchy. I hope it will be okay. I will need to knit another one before the end of the week and send them off. I also found a knitalong yesterday, and I have decided that I will join up when I get the book. The pattern is the Central Park Hoodie from Knitscene Fall 2006. I love the color too, so I will have to get my copy before September and find a substitute yarn and be ready to knit it up. I have never joined a knitalong before so it should be exciting. I will list the knitalong website before I start so those who would like to join up too know where to go. Well happy knitting everybody, and tomorrow I should have some pictures of Isabelle knitting on her new knitting machine. What fun that is!

Annette's Blanket

Hi all, just a quick post but an important one. Samantha from Me, Myself and Milotis 78 is planning a blanket to be knit for her parent's neighbour, Annette. Her husband has just passed away from having had a massive heart attack. She has two small sons aged 4 and 5 and thought that making a knitted afghan out of 8 x 8" squares in blues and greens would be a great idea to make for them. She needs help as she needs to knit up 72 squares which would take quite a while to make by herself. If you can help her out please e-mail her. Her blog is listed on my sidebar if you need it. I am going to make a square and send it off to her. I'll just need to work out how many stitches I will need. I had better go and look at my pattern stitches in my books and decide which one to make. If you like, and live in Australia, maybe we can get them together and send them off in one parcel or two and Samantha can have a few at the same time to put together. Please visit her blog and see if you can help out. You know that knitters are great at helping out other knitters and families in need. I just hope that this helps those two sweet little boys and their mum!
P.S. I have just looked through my Simply Knitting magazines and their stitch library actually has the number of stitches to knit a 8 x 8" square for each pattern featured. I hope that this will help some people. Well I am off to knit my first square. Happy knitting!

Hooded Striped Top without the stripes

Pattern: Hooded Striped Top from Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino book
Size: 6-9 months
Started: July - Finished 15th July 2006
Yarn: Cloud yarn from Spotlight, 2 1/2 balls

I finally finished up the last sleeve last night and attempted to take some photos, none of which turned out very nice, so early this morning I tried again. This is about the best that I could get to try and show up the color properly. It is actually a medium pink and white together and it is so soft. I will wrap it up today and give it to my mum to send off with her parcels as she made some things too for the baby and her big brother as well.

I went to the quilt in yesterday too and bought some nice things. I will post about them tomorrow though. It was nice to sit down and do some knitting without being asked for something to eat or drink all the time. I absolutely love my kids but I sometimes get the feeling that they wait until I have to sit down to do my knitting and then they decide they need me. I saw lots of great quilts and little bags and some women make amazing things. Alas the camera did not make it into my bag so I have no photos of any of the great projects that they were working on. There was about 150 people there so it was a great turnout. It was nice and warm in the hall as the rain had started at about 11:00 on Friday night and it did not stop until about 1:00 last night. Constant good rain which we need very badly. I have also been trying to get over a head cold this week and my throat is still a bit sore.

I also tried to knit a new jumper for Isabelle yesterday with some Debbie Bliss cotton but it came up a bit loose looking so now I have changed the cotton to another Spotlight cotton that I bought a while ago. It is bright pink Cottone cotton which I like and had already used before. I have been reading some of the sewing blogs lately and they have been complaining about Spotlight fabrics and how disorganized they are. Well I do have to agree with that. I go to Spotlight to buy yarn sometimes, but I do like their new range of Rosewood needles so I bought some of those, but the place is usually a mess and you cannot find what you want. The fabric selection is not that great either, but sometimes you find something that you like. The Cloud yarn that I used for this little jumper came from there and was only $3.00 a ball so that was a good bargain and I had not used it before. I also have some in the blue colorway and a cream with colors through it. At Spotlight I wait for new products like when they bought Cara Mia yarn out, but they had a swatch knitted up in a nice blue colorway but they only had 4 colors which were red, charcoal, green, and apricot. I bought what I wanted and asked about the blue and they replied that they only what they had been sent. I was so annoyed as I really wanted the blue, and it would seem that they never got it either as there have never been any other colors added to the selection even though they had the tags put up for other colors.

Well I have whinged enough about Spotlight so I must go and wrap up the baby jumper and maybe do some more of Paul's jumper. It is growing I swear. More piccies tomorrow.

Books, books, books

That is what has arrived in the mail today. It seems that a few of my new books decided to come on the same day, which will make for a good weekend of reading.

I ordered Hats, Gloves and Scarves by Louisa Harding, which has some very nice patterns in it. I think I will be using this book a bit as I do want to eventually knit some gloves, and the hat and scarve patterns in this book look like they are not very complicated, but still look great. I also received my Vintage Knits book, and yes I know that a lot of people already have it, but I have waited on getting it for so long but finally decided to buy it. I do like a few of the patterns in it and hopefully will start one later on in the year. I also got Inspired Cable Knits by Fiona Ellis. Now I absolutely love cable knitting and used to knit quite a few adult jumpers with a lot of cables in them. Some I have given away, and some sit in Paul's wardrobe. I can't complain because he actually does wear them when it gets cold, which is a good thing. No use knitting them jumpers and they just sit there is it. Well this book looks just as good as I thought it would be. I am definately going to have to lengthen the things I want to knit just by looking through this book. It is very nicely presented and the patterns are just so nice. I will have to take some photos of my favourites and post them up later on.

Now onto actual knitting, I am still trying to finish the baby hoodie which has just one sleeve left to knit, so if I get my act together then I may finish it tonight, and be able to post it tomorrow afternoon. I should get time today because Isabelle has had two friends over to play today, so I am hoping she will tire herself out early tonight and I will have some alone time. Don't get too much of that when a 4 yr old need entertaining. Oh and by the way Gillian sold one of my baby hats yesterday. How exciting! Well I better go and get that second sleeve done so I can finish something else up afterwards. Hope you all have a lovely weekend!

Too Much

I just came back from the Interweave Knits website for their Fall 2006. There are some really nice knits in there. I think that my subscription has just expired so I think a renewal will be due by now. Some of the knits that I really liked are the Sienna cardigan, Weekend Pullover, Breton jacket, Wonderlust hoodie, and Gatsby Girl pullover. I think that the wonderlust hoodie would have to be my absolute favourite one to make at the moment. Now I will be stalking the newsagency to see when it arrives. Anticipation is annoying sometimes when you would just like it right now! By the way thank you all for your lovely comments on Isabelle's top. I actually read them all to her and she loved them, so thank you very much.

Well onto other wonderful things. I actually got to visit with Gillian and her husband Robert in Bacchus Marsh yesterday. Gillian is actually going to try to sell some of my baby hats at her stall on Thursday. I really do not know how well they will sell, or if at all. A bit nervewracking I think, but Gillian sells lots of her jams and chutneys so I am hoping that some of those customers would like a baby hat for a friend or for their own. Once again Gillian thank you for offering to sell them for me. It is very much appreciated I assure you. I actually made Gillian a nice little knitting bag as a gift but I forgot to take a picture of it. I loved the fabric when I saw it and thought of Gillian as she really does love her garden.

After my little visit I popped into a new bakery in the Main Street and bought some yummy loaves of bread to take home. I will have to go back there to get some more I think. Very nice and soft. I also popped into the local wool shop since I had not been there for quite a while. I bought some balls of wool called Patons County, not Country like I thought it was. It is a very nice soft tweedy yarn. I only bought 2 balls, which was very restrained for me. They are a nice yellow/mustard color and a reddish copper color. Maybe more little hats I think. I also knitted some more on the front of Paul's jumper last night. The front is growing but very slowly. I will be glad when it is finished.

On the weekend is the quilt in for my sister's quilting group called The Willows. It is at the Civic Centre in Melton on Saturday. Mum and I usually go as it nice to see what everyone is making. Last year it was on at the same time as the Bendigo Show and we got there late and the little place they had booked was too crowded to stay. This year it is a much bigger venue. Some of the work is amazing and there will be a guest speaker too. Do not ask me what her name is this time as I have completely forgotten. I will try and take my camera and see if I am alllowed to take some photos. I am taking my knitting which is easier than sewing and I am going to try and finish the hood on the baby hoodie which is still going. Then I will only have 2 sleeves to do and I will be able to post it off. I think after that a few UFO's are going to be finished up so that I can clear the sidebar a little bit. I am expecting some books in a few weeks so I really want to be able to start some new things too which are a bit different from what I am making now. So that is all for now. I must do some housework before I take Isabelle to kindergarten after lunch. Ah some free time is nice even if it is only 3 hours. Have a nice day everybody.

Cozy

Pattern: Cozy Tank Top from And So To Bed book by Lucinda Guy
Size: 4-5 years
Yarn: Zara - Bright Pink and Chocolate Brown - 2 balls of each.

It is finally finished. Isabelle was happy to put the top on and even decided to wear the hat as well. I think she likes modelling for the camera. It is a good fit. I was worried that it might be too short but it is just right. I think in winter she can wear a long sleeve top underneath. The book says to wear it over pyjamas at night to keep warm, but she wants to wear it as a top. I think she looks rather cute in it, and I am sure that in a few years that she will not want to wear anything hand knit. Now I can go and finish off some more little hats.

I spent the afternoon at my sister's house having afternoon tea and crafting. My sister does not knit but she quilts and sews beautiful things. She just finished an absolutely gorgeous cot quilt for her friend's little girl from The Angels Journal. I did not get to take a picture but I have borrowed a pattern from the book for a bag that I want to make. I also have to finish up the little pink and white hoodie that I am knitting, and no I have not pictured it on here yet, but I will once I finish it up. So I had better get going and put dinner on or we will not be eating until midnight otherwise. Hope you have a great day.

No Pictures

Well there is no further progress on Paul's jumper. I think I have gotten bored with the color and the endless stockinette stitch, even though I am in the middle of trying to finish a baby hoodie for my cousin's little girl who was born last week. I have not posted any pics of it yet as I only started it yesterday afternoon. I just cast on for the front this afternoon, so hopefully I will be able to knit up the hood tomorrow, or if I get lots of free time maybe tonight! It is just plain stockinette stitch and I am using a yarn that I picked up from Spotlight a while ago. I will post the details later on in the week.

Also Gillian is holding a little competition for some hand-dyed sock yarn so pop on over to her blog and read all about it. I think she actually posted the deadline for the end of the competion as the 11th or 15th of July. It is in her comment section. Better re-check that when you have a look. She is very good at dyeing yarns, and I have seen her hand dyed socks and beanie that she made before she went overseas. The dyed yarn was so nice and vibrant.

I also had a read of the new knitty patterns that went up this morning. The only pattern that really interests me is the Widdershins toe up socks. I have never knit toe up socks, but I will have to try it. I never make my socks long enough in the length so if I can knit them this way then I will be able to use up all the sock yarn and not have as much left over as I normally do. I also liked the Fetching cabled wrist warmers. They look quite nice to knit someone for Christmas. Maybe put it on my "to do" list, which gets longer everytime I see a new book.

Wish You Were Here

That is the name of my knitting book arrived today, and I only ordered it on Sunday night. It is another one by Debbie Bliss and has some nice easy knits in it. There are quite a few that I would like to knit, but these would have to be first.

First up is the Chevron Lace Top which goes in size from 2 years to 7 years in size. It only uses 5 balls for the largest, but I would probably make mine a little bit longer in length. It seems okay but Isabelle has a long torso so I would want it to last a while on her.

Secondly, is the moss stitch and rib tunic which is from ages 2 to 8 years and I think is similar to other jumpers that she has made patterns for before. The Casual Cable Jacket is also pictured with it, and I love it. It goes from 81cm - 117 cms which is good for us women with a bigger bust. I get annoyed sometimes when you see something that you really would like to make and the chest measurements are too small. Well I suppose if I look at it from the other side there are probably women out there who wish they were bustier to be able to wear other garments too. This jacket is made out of DK cotton so it would probably knit up quickly. It also has a big cable down the back of the jacket and I think it looks so nice.

And finally, the Cable and Rib Jacket which is in a size 82cms - 107cm for size. This is a nice jacket too, but I would have to make mine longer. There are a couple of other things in there that I like too as the sleevless top and the short sleeved cardigan as well. There are also two nice men's jumpers in there, one reminds me of a cricket jumper actually like my grandpa used to wear when he went to lawn bowls.

Well two posts in one day is pretty good for me. I think I will wait until I have some more knitting progress to post about or I received some other knitting books that I am waiting on. Bye for now.

And yes another hat

I am sure you are all sick of seeing little hats on my site by now, but I promise that I won't show any more for a while. This is the little hat that I will be giving with the little jumper that I finished up yesterday. I knitted this up last night in about 2 hours I think. I used the leftover yarn and probably could still make another one in just plain blue, but this matches the jumper so I am not going to make another. This is the 9-12 month size so it should fit for quite a while I hope. By the way, thanks for all your lovely comments on the little jumper. Now I have to finish Paul's big jumper since he has been asking lately how much I have done. I had better get motivated to finish it, and then I will be able to finish something else on the list!

Little Boy Blue

I have finally finished the little jumper that I started last Thursday afternoon. I think that the second sleeve took just as long to knit as the rest of the jumper. Isabelle managed yesterday to climb on the couch to grab her balloon, and of course stood on my knitting, and what did I find when I went in there to continue knitting but a snapped needle with splinters and stitches pulled off. She luckily did not get any splinters in her foot, but I was a wee bit mad since I had only purchased that pair last week from Spotlight. Well luckily I had another one that I could use and whilst Isabelle was at kindergarten today, I finally finished off the neckband and stitched it up.

DETAILS: Pattern: Sirdar Snuggly Fair Isle DK Pattern No 1538.
Size: 6-12 months.
Yarn: Sirdar Snuggly DK and Fair Isle - Denim Blue. 1 1/4 balls of blue and 1/2 of
the fair isle.

Now that I have finished the jumper I plan on using the rest of the yarn for a little hat for Hunter, the baby it is intended for. He is now nearly 5 months old and has outgrown the items I made for him when he was born. I used to babysit his dad when he was a baby too, and I can see the resemblance as soon as I look into his face. He is just adorable. Well I think that as soon as I hang out the washing I will be looking for a little hat pattern to use and then gift it to him when I am at mum and dad's place on Friday night. I hope that you all have a nice day, as I will when I go for my walk to get Isabelle from kinder. The sun is out and is actually warm so I must make the most of it!

Another Gray Day

The weather is cold, gray and drizzly outside. My friend Shaz and I took the kids shopping at the Direct Factory Outlet in Essendon trying to escape the rain here in Melton. We did not succeed with the weather as it was worse there than here and I think everyone had the same idea as it was quite crowded. I did get Isabelle a dress, which I am hoping I can replicate another one in some fabric that I have. It is for summer so it will give me time to practice. I also bought her two Strawberry Shortcake books for just $2.00 each. She loves Strawberry Shortcake.

So onto the knitting, and here is the finished back of the Cozy Tank Top. I am using Zara as I already had some leftover from other projects. Isabelle liked the dark pink, which I am still getting used to with the dark brown. She says it looks like black and pink so I hope she will wear it. I have done some of the front, but I did not get to do any knitting after last night's post as Isabelle decided to annoy the boys, so I took her to bed at 9:00. I have finally taken a photo of the little hat that I finished last week too. It is made using Carnival wool which is a Kmart brand type of yarn. I got a ball for $2.00 and I love the colors of this wool. They remind me of Autumn which is my favourite season. I have popped this one into the gift box for future use. I have nearly finished up the baby jumper but I won't take any pictures until I finish it up. I am hoping to get it finished after the birthday party tomorrow. I am hoping to start the last sleeve this afternoon since Paul has gone out to a football reunion party and Lachlan is at his friend's place for a while. I'll cross my fingers and hope that Isabelle finds something to occupy herself.

Busy Busy Busy

Hi all, I have been busy the last few days. I had Gillian over for a quick visit on Thursday morning. I think she was overwhelmed by all the knitting books that I had. I hope I did not scare you off Gillian. I went shopping with a friend yesterday to Watergardens Shopping Centre, and finally bought another birthday present for a boy's party that Isabelle has on Monday morning at 10:00. I also actually got to knit on the little boy's jumper that I started Thursday afternoon. I am now going to do the last sleeve tonight, and hopefully by tomorrow the neckband, and then it will be ready for a photo. I think I might even make a little hat to go with it, so I can then gift it next week.

I popped into the local wool shop today, and actually bought a piece of fabric from her remnant table. Isabelle does not like it, but I do. I will take a picture tomorrow and show you. I also went to the Black Sheep Wool website and they finally had their online store working, and I purchased a new Debbie Bliss book called Wish You Were Here. They also had 10% off all purchases. I do not know when their opening sale finishes, but it was a good bonus.

I also finished the back of Isabelle's cozy tank top too and started on the front. Now Paul is asking when his jumper is going to be finished. I have finished the band on the front, just the rest to do. Oh and by the way Louise emailed me about the Harry Kewell jumper pattern. Please give me your e-mail address so that I can answer you back and help you out. Well that seems about it, Lachie has a friend staying over tonight so I had better switch off the computer and do something constructive like knitting! See you all tomorrow.