Another Rainy Day

It is pouring outside, and has been since 7:00 a.m. this morning, so I do not think that I will be taking any pics right now. I did not do much knitting last night, apart from a small part of Isabelle's sock which had to be pulled out and started again with the pattern. I am hoping I do not need to do that again. I stopped after reknitting up to where I had gotten the first time due to having a bad headache. I was in bed by 7:00 p.m. and it is still not fully gone this morning. Annoying, especially when Paul has gone to work on a Sunday so no rest for me. I think I will be popping the panadol tablets today. So first up I thought that I would post a picture of what Donni from http://mogsblog.blogspot.com last month. I did have another blog before this which did not work out for me, so I thought I would post a picture of the goodies that she sent me for being the 500th comment on her blog. She sent 2 balls of Wool Ease, 2 stitch markers in a gorgeous emerald color, 1 skein of her handdyed wool in an emerald blue color, and another skein of yarn from Xotik Yarns I think, (must check that). I have not used any of the yarns yet, trying to finish others and find the perfect pattern for the yarns that she sent me. So generous. You should also check out her blog as she is shaving her head for charity.

Second up, here is Little Treasures, which has beautiful patterns in it. I love the pattern on the front cover, which is called Bea. I am going to be making Odette which is a two colored jacket. Must not start it until I have finished at least 4 projects on my UFO list. I have hidden it away so that I don't get startitis again. Hoepfully by tomorrow the sun will be out and I will be able to take some piccies for you all. Hope you all have a great day.

Rainy Day

Well since the weather is rainy and grey outside, I thought that I would post a pic of our 3 kitties that were born last November. First up is Daisy, then Toby and lastly Drake, who seems a bit blurry in this pic. Toby is about 3 times the size of Daisy now. Drake, I have not seen in a little while since Lachie's friend has him.
I knitted a tiny bit of progress on Isabelle's sock last night, only ribbing, and then went to bed since she was not herself, so until I have mastered the pattern of this sock I will not be showing it yet. Isabelle is feeling much better this morning. She has Daisy in bed with her who was out in the rain this morning. She treats her like she is a little person most of the time. It is very cute, but I think that Daisy thinks she is like a person too now. She follows you around the house in the morning until you put some milk in her bowl, and she sleeps in my rocking chair amongst the cushions. It was actually nice having 3 kitties to look after, seeing them play in the front yard. At least the kids did not fight over who was going to hold them. Well if the weather changes later today, which I doubt I will try to take some photos and blog about them later. Bye for now.

Girls Socks

Just a quick post tonight, since Isabelle is not feeling all that well this week. I think she might be getting a cold, not eating much, and being tired, but will not sleep through the night. She fell asleep at 6.30 tonight and slept for an hour so no photos at her kindergarten market stall tonight. When we left my parents house it had begun raining, not too heavy, so I took it as a warning to head straight home. Good thing I did because the rain has not stopped since.

Anyway, after checking out the website for a sock pattern and not finding anything that would fit Isabelle's feet, I decided to look through last year's Knitting Pattern A Day Calendar to find a sock pattern. I tried to get a copy of this year's calendar but no-one had any unfortunately. So I have decided to knit a pattern that I found in there, and since I have only started the ribbing I won't take a photo until I get a bit of a pattern going and I can actually do it. I also located a new color of sock wool, and purchased some to put in my mother's Mother's Day box for her present. Now she will be able to knit up two pairs of socks. I will try and photograph them tomorrow, but if not I will show them later in the week, just depends on the weather tomorrow. I am also nearly up to the armholes on the Tea for Two sweater for the front. I have decided to try and finish it by the end of next week. Fingers crossed I don't get sidetracked again! I also purchased some yarn from http://sockmonster.typepad.com who was clearing out her stash. She still has some Jo Sharp wool in an Oak color I think. She actually orders German sock wool and other sock wool so if you would like some just check out her blog. I actually bought some cotton sock yarn from her at the Bendigo Wool Show last year, and her prices are very reasonable. I will take a photo when I get it along with 2 books that I also ordered from The Wool Shack. Well have a good night, and see you all tomorrow.

Socks

I have been thinking of knitting some socks for Isabelle lately, with some pink sock yarn that I purchased at Sunspun last year, in Canterbury. Beautiful shop. I could not get over their jumpers and cardigans that they had on display. Anyway, I have not yet found a pattern for her socks yet, but a big thankyou to Gillian who directed me with a link that I will check out later today. This first picture is the first pair of socks that I ever knit last year. I had never knitted socks before so using 4 dpns was a bit of a handful. They turned out to be a perfect fit thankfully. This is a sock yarn made in Germany, but I cannot remember the name, and no longer have the label. They took me 5 days to knit.

Next up is a cotton pair of socks that I knit up after I had purchased the cotton yarn from the Bendigo Wool Show last July, from Sockmonster. I will try to find her website again and list it here. She had many types of cotton sock yarn, which is quite nice on your feet. The colors were a bit more masculine knit up than I really wanted, but I still wear them. I ribbed them from the top and along the front.


These are the first pair of socks that I knit for Paul using Patonyle sock yarn. I have also used this yarn for socks that I knit for my mum and my sister too, but in different colors. I think these took 3 days to knit up. I also knit him a grey pair with ribbing throughout, but did not photograph them. He still wants another pair of socks, so I guess that I will have to find some other colors for him. I am going for a walk down to the wool shop today to buy my mum some sock yarn for Mother's Day which is on the 14th of May, so she will get a nice surprise. She actually enjoyed knitting herself some socks last year.

Next up is the back of the baby jacket which I started and completed on Tuesday. I photographed it outside underneath the verandah in the hope that the colors would show up better. They sort of did, but a bit brighter I think. I have cast on and knit up a few rows of the left front, but got bored and decided to finish the back of the Tea for Two sweater. I have now done some of the front of that too.

This is where I am up to on the Rae jacket. The color looks nicer in this photo. I am just past the armholes. Lately I have been getting bored with projects I have been doing, so that's why I have so many. I try to get interested in another project that's already on the needles so that I make some progress. This usually results in finishing some projects quite close together, which is a good thing. Makes room for new projects. Well bye for now, and I will show you the sock yarn that I buy for my mum, and maybe buy some for Paul too.

Sunny Days

After the weekend being about 12 to 16 degrees, yesterday and today are beautiful and sunny. I just finished photographing some items but will download them when I have taken some more. I have just finished the back of a baby jacket, which I cast on for yesterday. It is made out of Peter Pan DK, in a light mauve, lime and pink blend. I made the same jacket last year in a variegated pink, but alas the wool shop had run out of that colorway when I went to get some. It is a quick knit, with the hood probably taking the longest to do. Our neighbour is having another girl, so I thought I would do the 1 to 2 years, so she will be able to wear it next winter. I also found out that my cousin's daughter is having her second baby, so I will try to knit up something for her baby which is due in September/October.
Apart from that I have been trying to knit some more on the cable cardie (which is for me) and the black cardi (which is for my sister). I am up to the body of the black one, just not worth taking a picture yet.
I am also trying to get some decent pictures of the socks that I knit last year. They aren't anything fancy. I taught myself to knit socks, since when I found a pattern the lady in the wool shop had never knit socks before so I tried from the pattern. I would like to try some of the sock patterns in Interweave Knits. Some of you sock knitters are so clever with your designs and colors. Oh, by the way does anybody know of a good sock pattern for a 4 year old with feet size 11 (kids size). I have some nice pink yarn, but I would like to knit some girly socks preferably with a pattern in them. Any help would be very much appreciated.

ANZAC Day

Today is a public holiday, being Anzac Day where we remember all the soldiers that were in WWI and WWII. My grandfather was in WWII as an aircraftsman. He served for 3 years, then returned home to help my grandmother raise 7 children. If he were still alive today he would be 106 years of age. God bless him and his memory. He passed away at the age of 87 years, a few days before my 20th birthday. I always remember him sitting at his kitchen table reading the paper, or out in his workshop doing something. My grandparents lived in Mildura, so it was always hot up there. Sometimes it was about 42 degrees, which was not good for me having fair hair and fair skin. Sunburn in those days was pretty normal, and I paid the price later on when I had Lachlan, as I developed skin cancer on my leg. Well I won't go into all the gory details about that, but let's just say that the damage you do as a child, you pay for later as an adult. Well since I changed the subject quite rapidly, I thought I would show you all a picture of my cabled cardigan, which I am now onto the 3rd repeat of. I did 1 1/2 repeats yesterday while at my mum's place, and in between trying to complete a 1000 piece jigsaw.









I thought I would show you all some pictures of my front garden. The one on the right is of my roses, which are in bloom right now. I have 3 of these which are set around my bay window. They get lots of flowers on them. I don't recall the exact name of them though. On the left is the picture of my half circle garden, which sits beside the front path and the garage. My daisies have lots of flowers at the moment, and the wheelbarrow in the picture has persimmons in it. I had to put a new plant in it, since the kitten likes to sleep in there. I am hoping this will deter her now. The wheelbarrow in the picture was made by my lovely neighbour, who sadly passed away about 8 weeks ago now. He had just been diagnosed with a serious illness, but had been sick for about 6 months before that. He was so kind and giving. Our family misses him a lot, and we make sure that his wife is okay. Paul knew them before they moved into their house after us. They liked our house when it was getting built so they decided to build across the road when they found out that ours was not for sale. I love having neighbours that are very friendly and nice, and I always make sure that his wife is okay. She is a lovely person to have as a good friend. Well I hope that you all enjoy your day and remember your loved ones who are no longer here anymore.

FUTURE PROJECTS

Well since the power went off for an hour, I decided to take some photos of the knits that I really like and wish I could make someday. First up we have Pearly from Rowan 37. I have never knit with beads before, but seeing some people use them in their knits looks quite nice, so I hope it wont be too hard.



Next up, we have Pearl, wow two projects with nearly the same name. This was designed by Kim Hargreaves from Rowan No. 32. I love this jacket. It looks so nice, and I love cables so it would be a great knit. The Kim Hargreaves site always has beautiful items to knit. One day if I win tattslotto, a few of her kits will be ordered, but I can only dream of them at the moment.



Thirdly, we have the Houndstooth Jacket from Classic Knits for Real Women. I don't know if I would use the same colors, but it is really nice. I love the professional look of this. Would be good to wear over black shirts and a nice camisole.









The next item is the Cable Yoke Jacket, also from Classic Knits for Real Women. I absolutely love this cardigan, but maybe without the fringe. I think it uses about 27 balls of Rowan Denim, so it would be expensive to knit. Anyone know of a good substitute for this yarn that they have used in the past.






And lastly one of my favourite cardigans is Uptown from Jo Sharp's book Village Knits. I love this cardigan. This one may be the next possible knit when my other ones are finished, so definately a few months away. Next up I will have to start looking at good sock patterns to knit up. Well hope everyone has a good day, and I will post tomorrow.

Future Projects and an FO

Well thank you for all the comments on yesterday's post. Much appreciated. It is nice to know that people read my blog. I am in the process of trying to photograph my wish list so that I have the details of the patterns that I would like to try. I think it makes it easier if some of you would like to do the same pattern, that you know where to look. I will try to get the post up later today or tomorrow morning.
So first up I have a photo of some new sock yarn that I purchased yesterday. I love the color. It is Hot Socks. I haven't decided what socks I am going to do yet. Last year I knit 8 pairs of socks for presents, and 2 of them were for me. I also taught my mum to knit some as well. It wasn't too hard following the pattern and working out what to do, so hopefully knitting a patterned sock will not be too hard.
Next, we finally have the finished Jenny cardigan that I made. It did not take too long to do, a week I think. I bought some silver buttons since trying to match this purple color was too hard. I think it looks okay. Excuse the bedhair look from Isabelle. She was eager to have her photo taken so she could play outside so I didn't get to do it. She wore it all day yesterday, so that's good. Well I am off to do my wish list, taking some photos and making sure I have all the details, just in case anyone else is interested in doing some of the same things. Well I will try to post it later today, or early tomorrow morning.

To Do List

Well I am in the mood to get a lot done today, so I thought I would type up a list of what I have on the needles, and more importantly what I need to finish up first, so here goes:-

1. Cable Cardigan, from VK - started back.
2. Rae, from Junior Knits - casted on.
3. Tea for Two Sweater, from Miss Bea's Rainy Day - back nearly completed.
4. Soft Ribbed Sweater, from Jo Sharp's Holiday - a few inches on the back.
5. Mimi from Pipsqueaks, halfway up back, a slow knit due to moss stitch and small needles.
6. Little Star Sweater from adorable knits for tiny tots, finished the sleeve and nearly finished the back.
7. Light mauve cardigan from Anny Blatt book, nearly finished, only one sleeve, right front and bands to do.

Looking at my list, I think I need to finish up the light mauve cardigan and the Tea for Two sweater first, as they will be quick. Maybe tomorrow I will post my wish list of projects that I would like to make. It could be longer than this list, but I can always shorten it, or add to it. We knitters need to live a long time to use up all our stash and finish all our wish list projects dont we! Well if I keep an update of my list, and shorten it somewhat over the next month, then I can start something new on the list I will post tomorrow. Hope you all have a great day!

Jenny

The Jenny cardigan is finally done, not completed as it does need buttons and seaming up. I didn't realise that the fronts were not lined up when I took the photo, so don't worry it is done as a yoke so I know that they do. When it is seamed up I will take a modelled shot for you. Luckily Isabelle is skinny as this cardigan is quite narrow and long. I hope that it will fit okay, fingers crossed. Next up I will have to try and decide what buttons to get. I am a bit busy today. I have just ironed 2 baskets of clothes, 1 more to go. Yes, I hate ironing, but usually do it every 2 weeks and do it all in one go. I know it will be the same again in a week. I also have to go to my sister's today and fix something on her computer, and then come home and cook roast pork for my mum, dad and sister. I know we had a roast the other day, but I bought a roast pork and it won't fit in the freezer, so I am cooking it tonight, and it is huge. I think I will be making something with the leftovers tomorrow for tea. Maybe sweet and sour or something. It seems like this morning has gone so quickly, and I have to pick Isabelle up from kindergarten already. Maybe its just because I have done a bit this morning as in housework. By the way, does anybody know of any jobs doing data entry at home that I could do, hopefully in Victoria, or Australia. We need to increase our income to pay some extra bills that we have looming, so any advice or help would be greatly appreciated. And to my commentors on my blog, all comments were greatly appreciated and so nice to know that someone reads my blog. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

New Project

Good afternoon everyone. I did have a post this morning to show you, but alas Blogger were doing maintenance and I lost it. So here is another post to show you. This is my next project for Isabelle which I am doing a size bigger for next year possibly. She does not stop growing upwards and she already has enough knits to wear this year. So I went and did my grocery shopping at Aldi's, which is a store which sells cheaper brands of things, and I saw this wool. Acrylic, I know, but it's good for kids, especially when they play outside. I used this same yarn for a jacket that I finished off last year, and it came up so nice and actually soft that I love it. So this one is pink/mauve with a fleck through it. Perfect for Rae out of Junior Knits. I have not made anything from this book as yet, because most call for aran yarn. There is one jacket that calls for 8 ply, but that will wait for another day. I hope to start this one soon, as Jenny is nearly finished. I am up to the colorwork on the yoke, and the rows take quite a while to do. I am onto the second color. Hopefully by tonight I will have it finished, fingers crossed. See you all tomorrow. Have a great day!

Knit Issue 1

I bought the new Jo Sharp Knit Issue 1 book last weekend. It is using the new Australian Alpaca yarn. Not all of the patterns are made using it. They also use her other yarns as well. This is one of my favourite patterns in the book. It is the Cowl Sweater. Very nice and light looking.








This is another one of my favourites. The V Neck Vest. I would like to make this one as well. Have to save up my pennies to buy the yarn, or otherwise find a good substitute.
The book actually has about 35 patterns in it, men's jumpers, scarves, blankets, jackets, cardigans, etc. I quite like a few other patterns as well.

As for knitting, I am halfway through the first sleeve of Jenny. Hoping to finish that one today while Isabelle is at kindergarten today. I really did not feel like knitting last night. Maybe just tired.

Adding to our pictures of pets today, is Daisy. She was born in November last year, along with her two brothers Toby and Drake. Toby has gone to live with my parents, and is 3 times the size of his sister. Drake has gone to live with Lachlan's friend, who named him. Daisy is a very cute kitten. Very tiny. She sleeps with Isabelle sometimes with her head on the pillow cuddled up in her arms. Sometimes she crawls under the blanket in our bed and goes to sleep. She is a lovable kitten, and practically lets the kids do anything to her. Nothing mean of course. The kids have held the kittens since they were about 3 weeks old.

And this is Rosie. She is the mother of the 3 kittens. She was an excellent mum, very protective. Now all she wants to do is eat. We actually went and bought her from a pet shop as our other cat had been hit by a car, and Lachie was very distressed about it. So we went to the pet shop together and picked her out. She actually knocks on our front door with her paw by pulling at it, when she wants something. It can get very annoying because you someone is knocking at the door, and it is just her. I could not get a photo of Meg our other cat, so her photo debut will have to wait until another time.

Easter Monday

I finally finished up the Sandcastle Sweater last night. What a relief. All the diagonal patterns get a bit confusing sometimes, or maybe I just get tired of looking at the dots on the chart. This is the size 2 - 3 years. It is a loose fitting sweater. I think it turned out okay. Hopefully Jesse will like it for his birthday next month. I used Spotlight Cottone cotton for this which is supposed to be a 5 ply, but actually knits up better as an 8 ply. The fabric is too hard I think when used as a 5 ply. I only used about 5 balls. I have also finished knitting up the left front of Jenny and nearly the right front. When I have done the arms I will be able to knit them all together. Hopefully will not take too long, as I will take a photo when I start the pattern on the yoke.


Next up we have Jake our kelpie who is 6 years old. He is the most beautiful natured dog. We bought him when Lachie was 6 years old from a big property in Gisborne. He was the run of the litter. He looks like his mum but bigger. He is so good with the kids. Isabelle walks Tess on the lead and Jake walks beside her without the lead. He is very obedient. Sometimes better behaved than the kids. He plays with his ball all day, bringing it to you then catching it and bringing it back to us to play. We always tell visitors that if they play ball with Jake be prepared to do it for a few hours.


This is Tess, our Jack Russell. When I had Isabelle we decided to get a dog for Jake to have for company. Our friends dog had six pups and I chose Tess. She is a long haired Jack Russell. She always needs to be brushed because of the prickles she gets in her fur. She adores Jake. She chases him around the yard. I think he has stepped on her a few times from this because occassionally I will hear a yelp from her. She is a very good dog. We can tell when we have visitors because she runs to the front of the house and barks. She doesn't bark a lot like some little dogs though. I think they are both gorgeous. The kids actually like seeing pictures of our animals on the blog. They rushed into see them and were all excited. They have now gone out the front to take pictures of our cats. Hope everyone has a nice day.

Happy Easter

I thought I would add a quick post. Our kids woke up just before 7:00am to come and show us their easter eggs. They ate their wombat before breakfast. Hopefully they don't feel sick by dinnertime tonight.
Yesterday's post of the cardigan is the Cable Cardigan from Vogue Knitting International 2003/04. I love this pattern. Must work some more on it when Isabelle is at kindergarten I think. I will finish the Sandcastle Sweater today, after lunch. I will photograph it tomorrow. It's a bit grey outside today, but no rain so at least the kids can go outside. I would also like to thank the commentors on my blog. Thank you. Fitknit, if you are reading could you please contact me again as I could not find your e-mail on your blog. I would like some help with my blog in adding some progress bars. Having all these works in progress gets a bit overwhelming, so I thought if I added some to my page, then I could keep my mind focused on certain projects. Well hope you all have a good day.

UFO's

This is the cardigan that I am knitting for myself. I have been busy knitting other things at the moment, so its been put on hold. I love the cables and the moss stitch together. I think it's from Vogue Knitting. I will have to recheck this.






I am using light blue Zara wool for this. Zara wool is so soft and it shows the texture up well.







This is the Tea for Two sweater for Isabelle. It is actually a dark yellow and orange. It looks very washed out in this photo unfortunately. I thought of photographing it for Project Spectrum, but I did not sign up for this month.









This is my newest purchase of Cascade Sierra. The color is actually a nice green. I thought on the website that they said 50g balls, but when I received it, it was 100g balls. Well now I can make something for myself. Oh how fortunate a mistake!

I took Isabelle to see her cousins in Bacchus Marsh yesterday afternoon. It was good to catch up. We had to leave when the weather decided to change for the worse. It was windy and pouring with rain. Then today we went over the other side of the city to visit some other cousins, and yes, you guessed it, more rain. I think the sun came out 5 times today and there was rain in between. Melbourne weather is like this a lot. We still never get used to it though. Last night it poured when we had dinner at my parents, and just as we were going to leave we got a flat tyre. Of course the car jack would not support the weight of the car, so the neighbours were good enough to borrow us a trolley jack. Done it in 5 minutes after that. The television also broke down at the start of the week. I'm just hoping that there is no third problem we have to encounter. Mum and Dad come for lunch tomorrow with my sister. We are having a roast, so it should be good in this cold weather. My sister-in-law and her husband are competing in a triathalon in Geelong tomorrow so I hope the weather is good for them. Well Happy Easter everyone for tomorrow, and I shall post an update hopefully on Monday. I have finished the back of Jenny by the way.

Good Friday

Today will be a quiet day hopefully. Good Friday in Australia means that the kids are home from school until Tuesday. The television networks run a Good Friday Appeal which raises money for the Royal Children's Hospital in Parkville, Melbourne. They do many wonderful things for children with serious illnesses. I remember when Lachie was about 2 yrs of age and he was on the couch and fell forward and knocked his front teeth on the coffee table. I was beside myself with worry from all of the blood and the fact that his front teeth were loose. We had to take him to the RCH to have them checked. They even have their own children's dentist there. They were great with him, and fortunately his teeth did not turn black, so no nerve damage. Isabelle actually fell over on her nan's driveway this summer and did the same thing, but also grazed and cut her face and legs and arms too. Thankfully her teeth strengthened up, so she did not have to have a hospital visit.

Speaking of children being ill, I read http://twowoodensticks.blogspot.com this morning. She is getting knitters to donate knitted squares for her niece who has a serious illness. Grace is a gorgeous little girl, and the extra squares that are knitted will be sewn into blankets for other little girls that have to have treatment in hospital too. It is a very good cause. I think pinks are the colors for the squares, but you will have to recheck that. I am thinking of knitting some 5" x 5" squares and sending them off to her. Will have to sign up later today when I find some nice pink wool to make a square and send off a little pressie too. It is a very good cause, and I would not wish for anyone's child to be so sick and have to be in a strange place at so young an age. I am sure that it is quite hard for the parents to endure as well.

Tomorrow I will post some pictures of the Cascade Sierra cotton that I received from Yarns Online. Their website is at http://yarnsonline.com.au. Meaghan is very nice and I usually receive my items the very next day. She sells Noro, Brown Sheep and Cascade wool and cotton. She also sells Lantern Moon bags and Chibi needles, all items which usually have to be ordered from overseas here in Australia. My cotton is Mountain Green I think, color 40. I love green yarn so this will be perfect. I just have to find the perfect pattern now. Sometimes I do order yarn that I like before I decide what to knit with it. I will also try to photograph a picture of the Tea for Two sweater for Isabelle which will tie in perfectly for Project Spectrum. I have not joined. I thought I would wait until the green month, but since this knit ties in perfectly with this month's color theme I think I will post a picture of it. This jumper is gorgeous. I knit it up last year for my niece Laura's birthday in the same yarn, but blue and added 10 rows to the length. As soon as Isabelle saw it she wanted one too. Miss Bea's knits are great and knit up very quickly, well for me anyway. I have nearly finished the Sandcastle sweater. Hopefully by this weekend it will be finished. We will be going to my brother-in-laws for lunch tomorrow to see our two nephews Thomas and Benjamin, so another hour of knitting in the car will be good. Thomas has just turned 4 years old, and Benjamin is 2. They are so cute. We will also give them their easter eggs, as the easter bunny comes on Sunday. Chocolate and pimples on their way. My kids love chocolate, but we decided from last year not to go too overboard, otherwise we eat chocolate for the next 6 months. Well I had better go. Hope everyone has a nice day.

More Knits

Good morning everyone. I have not taken any photos of my knitting in progress yet, so I will show a few pictures of the quilts that my sister made for my kids.

First up, this is the quilt that my sister made for Isabelle's 4th birthday. The fabric in the printed squares is actually fairies. I had it hanging on the clothesline so excuse the self-portrait of my arm.










This is the quilt that my sister made Lachie for his 12th birthday this year. It is actually not as bright and looks much better in real life. My sister has been quilting for many years at the Willow Quilting Group in Melton. She has also made double quilts all pieced by hand and hand quilted also. These two she did on the sewing machine, but she is quite talented. I will have to take photos of the dolls that she has made one day too and show you.





And this is one of the photos of a jumper that I made about 11 years ago for Paul. It is actually a cream color. I had to try to fit it in the photo and get close enough so the stitch detail would show up. I think it took me 9 weeks to knit this jumper. Lachie was only a baby so there was not a lot of free time to knit back then. I love this jumper. It fits me with room so it is quite comfy, but it looks better on Paul. His jumpers always fit him perfectly and look good. I wish my jumpers for me fit and look as good.


I have knit a little bit more on Jenny, but have put it aside while I finish the Sandcastle Sweater that I am knitting as a birthday present for my friend's son. I only have a sleeve and a half to finish. I did the neckband yesterday and the other half sleeve, so hopefully by the weekend it will be finished. We have Easter break this weekend so it could be busy. We are hoping to go to Murrumbeena to see our nephews and give our older nephew his birthday present. Well I hope that everyone has a great weekend. Will post when I have some more photos to show you. Bye.

Bright and Sunny

I have just returned from a lovely morning at Maddingley Park in Bacchus Marsh where Isabelle's kinda group had their easter egg hunt. The weather was beautiful and sunny. It is a nice park with lots of old trees and a great big adventure playground which was built by volunteers about 3 years ago. Paul's grandmother lives across the road from the park in a house that is very old. I don't quite know if it 100 years old, but she has lived there for a very long time. We visit her when she is home. She is going to be 85 this year I think, and still drives and goes bowling. Great inspiration to her grandkids. Anyway I had better fill you in on the knitting progress.




First up, here is the finished shot of Peter which was finished yesterday. I love this little cardigan. I used wool from my stash which was a machine washable 8 ply crepe. Good for toddlers with food stains and other marks that they seem to get on their clothes. I also used the buttons from my stash as well. The light blue ones were the only color I could find to match the colors in the cardigan that I seemed to have enough of. The other colors seemed to be one button short.



My progress on Jenny was good yesterday afternoon. I knitted about 15cms on it, which is just straight stocking stitch to the armholes. When you have knit all the pieces to the armholes then you put them all onto one needle, and start the yoke with the different colors. I hope it turns out okay. I really don't like doing colorwork as I think that my knitting looks all wonky and out of place. I have seen bloggers who do fair isle and colorwork that looks like it came from a store, its just so professional looking. If my jumpers turned out that great then I wouldn't be so put off from making them. Well that's all for today. I am about to do some grocery shopping and easter egg shopping for Sunday, and a bit of housework. Such an exciting life we mothers lead don't we!

Sewing Projects

This is the Raggedy Anne that I made about 4 years ago. I purchased the pattern from a shop at the Craft Show, came home and decided on the materials and made her up on the sewing machine. I actually had to purchase fabric paint to do her shoes which was quite easy really. I like this doll as she is quite tall. My daughter used to put her up next to her when they were the same size, which was quite funny to look at. Next to her is a cushion that I made from a pattern. I would have to find it to tell you who designed the pattern. I actually embroidered the pictures on the front and made it out flannel material.



















This is a cute little cushion kit that I picked up a craft show about 2 years ago. I love the embroidery saying on this cushion. I wonder how many people do end up with underwear for Christmas.














This is one of my favourite dolls which is also from a kit. I used to buy kits all the time, as having a young child and a baby, it was easier to just purchase the material with the pattern instead of having to shop around to find the fabric too. She is really rather cute. I just drew her face on with fabric pen, painted her wings, and sewed her together. She actually sits in my front lounge room on atop of a box which has fabric in it for a couple of quilts that I actually have to get around to making.





















And finally, my first toy that I drew up the pattern for myself. I saw a similar one on one of the craft blogs, and thought that I could make a similar one for Isabelle. She has named it Annabelle the bunny. It is not really big, but I am thinking of trying to make a larger one. I am going to make one for my niece for Easter, which is this Sunday, so I should really get started soon.




















Back to the knitting front now, I have finished knitting Peter now. I just have to sew it up and sew on some buttons and it will be finished. I will then try to start the sleeves for the birthday jumper. I will take some photos of them later today. I have kindergarten duty today so it will have to be after that. Also, good news! Knitty is up. I love granny smith, reid, and double scoop. Double scoop would be good for baby presents, in different colors for boys or girls. Reid I would love to make for Isabelle. I do knit jumpers for Lachlan and my partner, but alas Lachie never wears them much. My partner has 2 cable jumpers that I have knit for him when Lachie was about 18 months old, before I began going back to work. They are great and have washed up well. One day I will take a photo and blog about them. Well off to get ready for kindergarten duty. See you all tomorrow.

Jaegar Book 29

I have just received the Jaegar handknits book 29 which is full of kid's knits and for babies too.
So first up, is Harry, a baby cardigan which I am making using Heirloom 4 Ply wool. I have just started the back, and it is an easy knit so far.
Secondly, is Jenny. The color is actually a deep purple. I will be knitting this after I have finished a few other things first. I have a deep purple wool in Zara, which is so soft. This will use up a lot of stash yarn as I do not have to purchase anything for it.
Thirdly, this is Peter. I am knitting the 12 month size in the same colors. I have used an 8 ply crepe which is machine washable. I think it is easier to use these for babies so the mum doesn't have to do any hand washing. I will post a picture at the end of the week of the progress on Peter. I have completed the back, both fronts, and a sleeve. Just the other sleeve and the collar and bands to go. Not too bad for 3 days work.
Now back to my knitting. The sooner I finish Peter I will be able to finish off another jumper which is going to be a birthday present. I will post a picture when it is done. I need to finish it before May the 15th so I had better get started on the sleeves. The back and front are completed. It is from Miss Bea's Seaside book. I post all the details when I have finished it and seamed it up. I also need to do some more progress on my sister's cardigan. Have not knit any of it since last week. Well see you all tomorrow.

Learning Along The Way

I just started yesterday with my blogging and now I am trying to learn how to list items in my links. Does anybody know how to do this easily and to add buttons to your sidebar. Help would be much appreciated.

Now onto knitting. This is a picture of a cardigan that I am making for my sister. I am using Cara TLC yarn in a charcoal color. It is knitting up quite nice and soft. I will post a picture when I have more progress. I have only knitted up half the sleeve so far. It is from the Cleckheaton Silk Country book, design 6.

On the right is a photo of a sweater that I knit up for my nephew's 4th birthday. It is actually a light grey color. It is out of one of the Debbie Bliss books. It only took a week to knit up the size 2 to 3 years size, which was very good. I used a cotton for this one called Cottone from Spotlight, which in Australia is a very large craft shop. I also received my Jaegar Book 29 on Friday which has absolutely gorgeous patterns in it. When the sun comes out I will take some photos of my favourites and of one that I have already started which is called Peter. It is a little striped cardigan which looks quite cute for a boy. Well off to do some housework and then read some blogs. The kids are watching tv since its cold out. See you all tomorrow.

New Blog

Welcome to my blog! I will try and keep an updated record of items that I have knitted and finished and also some photos of my family, including my son and daughter and our 3 cats and 2 dogs. Hopefully it won't bore you all too much, so here goes.

First up we have the baby jacket from Cleckheaton Baby Knits book, design 4 I think. I used Color 4 Me Blue Tweed wool which is quite bright in the picture here, but I think it will look cute. I know two people expecting babies who do not know what they are having, so making extra items is just being prepared so I won't need to rush and knit something when they arrive.

Secondly, this is the baby jacket from Special Knits by D. Bliss. It is the Ribbon Edged Cardigan. This is the second one that I have made this year. I used about 2 1/2 balls of Cleckheaton Feathersoft Pink (8 ply) which is nice and soft for babies. This will be going to my sister's friend who is due in around June/July.

The picture at the top is of my daughter wearing her new jacket. It is the Red Maracas Jacket from Miss Bea's Knits. I used 6 1/2 balls of Rowan Cotton in the color Teal. I knit the size 2-3 years and then stitched on the ribbon roses. The actual pattern had embroidery in the panels, but I chose the flowers instead. I think that it looks rather cute. Well it's getting late so I had better go and finish watching Cinderella with the kids before they fall asleep.