Another Knit

Good morning. The sun is out this morning and it is actually a bit warmer than yesterday. It was on 15 degrees yesterday which is cold here. I know some of you live where there is snow and blizzards and such, but here in Melbourne we hardly ever get snow, unless you live in Trentham or around those areas, and places like Mt. Buller and Mt. Hotham where there is supposed to be snow. Well enough babbling on. Here is a picture I took of Miriam which is from one of the Rowan books. I think it is 27 or 28. Will have to recheck later. This is the back. There is actually a flap knitted in the centre of the back at the bottom. It is actually a nice green color, not the bright blue. I think my camera fancies this color, as purple seems to come up as this color as well. I have finished both sleeves on the star jumper and now only have the front and neckband to do. I will take a picture of it when it is done which should hopefully be by the end of the week. Giving myself a timeline should push it to be done. I seem to work better that way. Oh and in response to Yuli's comment, I think mushrooms that are okay to eat are the ones that are brown underneath. If you touch the skins and they change color, these are not safe to eat. The field mushrooms always have the brown ribbing underneath them. I know that some toadstools look like mushrooms but they do not have the brown underneath them as far as I know, and are usually a different shape. Please do not eat any that you are unsure of, I could not bear to think of someone getting sick on mushrooms. My mum and dad used to take me mushrooming with my dad's parents when I was young, about 3 years old I think. They used to take an old hessian bag that usually had potatoes in it, which Dad used to buy from Victoria Market. Anyway we used to drive out to the country and fill these bags up. I think my family lived on mushrooms every day for the next two weeks. They were huge mushrooms and the underneaths used to look nearly black. With all of the houses being built now, I suppose there are not many paddocks to go mushrooming in now, but it is fun for the littlies to do it. Isabelle loved it, and now keeps looking for more. She won't eat though, she even picks them out of her lasagna when I cook it. Well off to do some housework, drop Isabelle at kinder this afternoon and do some ironing and of course a bit of knitting.

A Bit of This and That

Hello! I hope you all had a good weekend. Ours wasn't too bad. Isabelle and I went birthday present shopping for two of her kinder friends, whose parties are both in the next two weeks. I knit Amber a wine colored scarf as part of her present, and I am currently knitting a nice blue/mauve colored one for Olivia. I have a small bag filled with fun fur yarns so what better way to use them up than to make pressies with them. Isabelle is all excited asking how many more sleeps until the first party. Then I am sure it will be the same question for the next party. So to fill in on our weekend, (yesterday Paul was at work and Lachlan had slept over at his friend's house, since his friend will be moving to Mt. Buller in a few weeks so Lachlan will miss him a lot), we occupied ourselves by going mushrooming on the way to the milk bar, which is about 2 streets behind us. That plastic bag is full of them. I gave them to my dad since he likes eating field mushrooms. Some of them were quite big. We tried to get some later on too but they were toadstools since the skins turned yellow when we picked them. I am sure that people driving by wondered what we were doing. A few weeks ago there were mushrooms growing on quite a few naturestrips, but since May is nearly finished so are the mushrooms. Well we had a lot of fun picking those ones, and I am sure they will taste great.
Also I got some knitting done, apart from finishing Amber's scarf, I also did some more of my sock, finished the back of the star jumper and half a sleeve, photos to come later, and I also did some of my Miriam sweater which is from one of the Rowan mags. It might be 27 or 28 I think. I am waiting for my next Rowan magazine to arrive that I ordered a few weeks ago. They were out of stock so it is something to look forward to in the mail, apart from bills. When the weather fines up a bit, I will try to take one outside of the cardigan. It rained last night, and now it is overcast outside so I don't think I will be taking any today.

I also purchased some knitting magazines on the weekend. I love Simply Knitting. We are a bit behind other countries with this, as is the case with most books here. The Creative Knitting mag is an Aussie one, and has some good patterns too. I like the ballerina knitted doll in it. The scarf on the front is cute too. I also finally purchased Toddlers and Tiddlers. I have looked at this book for so long, about two years deciding whether to buy it or not. When I went to Stitchery Blue they had run out of copies, and I knew then that I wanted it. I ordered it from the Wool Shack along with some yarn I had also ordered. I am now waiting on my Chibi darning needles from Yarns Online and some sock yarn. That will be all that I will be purchasing for quite some time. We managed to work out a budget for ourselves, and for the next few months things will be tight, so no yarn ordering or new knitting books for quite a while. Have to reduce that stash anyway. I think its starting to take over the house, our bedroom at least. Well that is all for now. Bye.

Knitting Goodies

Good morning everyone. Isabelle has recovered from her sore throat and went to kindergarten this morning, so I have time to post. On the left is a picture of the Mother's Day present that all the children gave to their mum's. It was just a seed two weeks ago, and has grown quite a lot. It is called a Nastursham, not quite sure of the spelling. I will have to ask my sister about that. She is a qualified gardener so she should know. It has little orange, red and yellow flowers on it when its ready to flower. I do not think that will be for a while. It has been so cold here lately, especially at night. Isabelle woke up 3 times last night, so in the end I put her in our bed and went to sleep in her bed. My goodness it was cold. I think I am used to Paul's heating in our bed. He is always very warm. Anyway I lay awake for hours last night trying desperately to go to sleep, and then woke up feeling more tired than I did last night. I think I should have stayed awake and did my knitting.


And finally a picture of Meg. Not a very good one, but one at least. She is a very snobby cat. She does not really like our two other cats, I think she actually prefers the dogs. When she was a kitten we lived at Paul's parents whilst we built our house, and Meg grew very friendly with their dog Benson, who sadly passed away a few months later. I think Meg preferred his company to anyone else, so now she just basically keeps to herself. She decides when she wants a pat, and if she doesn't she will let you know. She will turn 8 years old in October, and I adore her even with her quirky little ways.


Now some knitting content, since that is why your here isnt it. I bought 3 knitting books 2 weeks ago from Emporium Books which is an online bookstore in New South Wales. Very good service. I received these within 2 weeks of ordering. I have also ordered Debbie Stoller's Happy Hooker and the And So To Bed by Lucinda Guy. I like buying kid's patterns as I always knit my nephews a jumper for their birthdays and I like to have new ideas. I need to go to the post office and pay for the next order today. I am hoping that the parcel man comes before I go or after 3:00 with my parcel from the Wool Shack. I do not want to have make an extra trip. Its annoying when that happens. You rush to the letterbox and there is the little red and white card waiting for you to go and collect the parcel. Well back to the books, I have seen the Knitted Gifts book on a lot of other blogs, and I love the mini sweater and stocking and of course the Hourglass Sweater. I can see these in my future. I also bought the Little Badger book which has very adorable jumpers for both boys and girls and scarfs and hats and little backpacks too.

I also purchased the Debbie Bliss Baby Knits for Beginners. I am not a beginner knitter, although I did like some of the patterns in this book and it only cost $29.00. I have seen this in knitting shops for about $45.00 so this is a bargain. I started the seed stitch cardigan for my cousin whose baby is due next month, after ripping out the disasterous pink jumper. I will eventually make that jumper, just use a different yarn for it. So here is the progress of the cardigan. I finished the back and the left front. The left front I did yesterday in between housework and child entertaining. I am going to try and start the right front today if I do not fall asleep. I hope not, I have a few things to do today and our financial consultant is coming by at 7:00 tonight. I have to get our papers organised, and hopefully our budget will be back on track and we can organise things a bit better. No more splurging on yarn. I am on a serious yarn diet, apart from the Zhivago I have to pick up for a cardigan I am making. I will post about it when I have made some progress. I only have 10 balls to pick up so its not too bad.
I will only order knitting books when I have some money put away, and I have written myself a list so I will not get sidetracked. So if any of you wish to know what books I like here's the list, and if any of you already have them, please advise of what your thoughts are of them.

1. Handknit Holidays
2. Vintage Knits
3. Morehouse Farm Merino Knits
4. Loop-d-loop
5. Alterknits
6. Mason-Dixon Knitting - I am hoping to get a good look at this when Gillian returns from overseas.
7. Inspired Cable Knits - I love cable knitting, my absolute favourite.
8. Knitting Nature - not too sure about this one yet. I have read a few blogs where they informed me that the patterns have not really been test knitted.

So that is it for now. If any of you have some books that you think are a must have for good knitting patterns, please let me know. I would be very interested to know what you think, and maybe I will post a list of reader's favourites. So that is it for now, have a good weekend everyone.

Wool Expo

Just a quick post to say that on 1st June from 10:00 to 3:00 at the Coburg Town Hall there will be a wool expo and stalls at the Coburg Town Hall. It should be good. I found out about it last year after it had already been on. This time I hope to go with my mum since she is an avid knitter too. I am hoping to get some new yarn that I have not seen before, and some sock yarn too. Hopefully Lisa will be there selling her sock yarns. I also took a quick look at the new Knitty surprises today. The baby top is quite cute, could be an idea for more baby pressies. Quick and easy. I also got my Creative Knitting mag too, but Simply Knitting has not come in as yet. Still waiting for that one. Well that's all for now. Hope to see you tomorrow.

A Better Day

Good morning. I actually had a nice day with Isabelle yesterday, despite her being sick. Her headache seems to have vanished now and she is almost back to her usual self. She still has a bit of a sore throat, but hopefully by the weekend it will be better. So now here is the picture of the finished sock, which could have been knitted a bit longer for the leg. The top is a moss rib pattern. I quite like the color of this sock. No more progress has been made on the second one as yet. I did try to post a picture of this sock the other day but it was not co0operating. I also frogged back the pink jumper as I did not like it. I have found another pattern and am using some stash Heirloom 4 ply cotton to make it. It is a light aqua I think. I will post some photos when I have made some progress. I also received some books yesterday afternoon so it made my day much better. Isabelle and I sat around and played UNO which is a card game, watched some videos, I knitted and she colored in her coloring book which she loves to do. I used to a lot of coloring in when I was a child and I used to love drawing. I do not do it as much now as having 2 kids sort of makes you lose concentration. I am also waiting on another purchase that I made last week. I will show you all tomorrow what they are. I hope that you all have a lovely day.

Sore Throat

Just a quick post. Isabelle is not feeling well today. I took her to kindergarten yesterday and did my kindergarten duty which is usually quite fun. Isabelle started crying yesterday during story time, but was insistent about not going home. She ended up with the chills and a sore throat and a headache. I went and bought some more Panadol and she has been sucking on fruit icypoles this morning. She does not seem as hot as last night. We both slept on the fold out couch so Paul could get some sleep since he needs to go to work. I will post some pictures as soon as Isabelle recovers. Bye for now.

More FO's

Good morning everyone. I finally finished the sock Saturday afternoon, and started the second one. I also finished two more baby hats, and thanks to all of you who left comments about them. I actually received the most comments on those hats, than for anything else I have posted about so thank you.
The purple/pink hat I made for my friend's daughter who will be 1 in August. She is only tiny so I hope its not too big. The other hat is red and yellow, and will be in the baby gift box for a later arrival. So far there are 2 girls due in the next couple of months, no boys so far. I am currently knitting a little girl's top for my cousin's daughter due next month so it is a priority to get it finished and to give to my Auntie who is coming to my parents next week. She will be able to pass it on since they live in Shepparton which is about 3 hours away. So hopefully after that is finished I will be able to do some more on the sock.
I have not done a lot of knitting though, because Lachlan has been suffering from a bully at school. This child has been calling him names and actually punched him in the face on Friday afternoon. I had Lachlan sent home early because of this, and last night Lachlan's molar came out from where he had been punched. I was so angry that this has happened, and also the fact that this boy is in his class. Lachlan is usually very quiet and keeps to himself, but if someone keeps annoying him his temper will build up and he will eventually explode. Apparently after the boy hit him in the face Lachlan retaliated. I do not like knowing that Lachlan is going through this. He has just started high school which is hard enough for anyone at his age. I just hope that this does not happen again. No-one likes to know that their child is being bullied and bashed at school. The teachers are quite good though at dealing with these things since both of them have been suspended, for the simple fact the teacher was not there when it started so Lachlan has to be punished for fighting back to protect himself. Well I have had my say and feel a little bit better now. Sorry for ranting, but I know that you all have kids and some of you may have dealt with this sort of thing before. So I will try to relax now and hopefully have some photos for you later on. Bye!

Little Knits

Do you ever get in the mood whilst working on big knits, to just complete a few smaller ones to feel as though you have completed something. Well I have been that way lately, so I thought I would finally take a picture of my latest sock. I am still working on the foot, yes I have size 10 feet, and am nearly up to the toe. It is a 4 stitch pattern of K3, pl, then the next row is P1, K1, P3. I like the way it makes a single knit stitch stand out. The yarn is Opal Magic, cannot find what color though. I have had this in my stash for about 1 year. I like this blue a lot. It is darker in real life than in the photo though.


Next up are these 2 baby hats that I made yesterday. I had some leftover Zara wool, which I love because of its softness. They are pink and rose colors. This pattern is from Baby Cashmerino 2 book, and the size is 3 to 9 months. There are only 2 sizes, the next being 18 to 24 months. I might make a larger one for my friend's 7 month old daughter. Our next door neighbour is due in November, so there will be 2 new babies in the street. I might have to make a boy colorway next, just in case. Oh and a big congratulations must go out to Sharon on the arrival of her new baby daughter Bronte. Well that's all for now. Hope that you all have a good weekend.

Nice Surprise

A nice surprise was in the mailbox this morning. I received my mystery pressie from Sharon. I got a cute card with a knitter wearing and knitting my favourite colored cardigan, and 2 balls of Crystal Palace yarns. The black one with a bit of sparkle is Little Flowers and the other one is a nice grey color which is Kid Merino and is oh so soft. I will check out the website later today to see what little goodies I can make. So I must thank you Sharon, you are so kind and generous and I am sure I will have fun creating something with these. Thank you, thank you, thank you! As for my knitting, well the sock has progressed quite nicely, I should be up to the heel shaping today I hope, and I have nearly knitted back up to the place on my sis's cardigan. She just rang to say that she is coming over in a little while. She has been suffering from anxiety, which I also suffer from too. I used to have panic attacks quite badly after I had Isabelle and still do suffer from stress related problems too. I do take medicine to deal with mine and to keep it controlled. I think it runs in my dad's side of the family as his sisters suffer from it as well. It is not very nice having panic attacks, especially when you feel as though you are having a heart attack and cannot breathe. Well I hope I can make her feel a bit better when she comes over. I hope that you all have a lovely day, as I am sure I will with my goodies from Sharon.

The Frog Pond

Yes, today I did go to the frog pond, and ripped back the Opal glitter sock. I did not like the pattern or the striping effect it had. It has now been put back into its container until I find a pattern that I would like to use. I pulled out another ball of Opal in a blue colorway, a new pattern, and off I go. I am liking this sock much better. I will take a photo when I get a bit further along. I also frogged back the increasing on my sister's cardigan. There was a mistake and I to frog it back and start the increases again, and now the pattern is working out great. I will be glad to get to the neckline on this one. Having all those stitches plus the weight of the sleeve hanging off the needles gets a bit much after a few rows.
I also went online and bought some wool from the Wool Shack. Emma is selling Zara wool for only $6.11 a ball. I usually pay up to $9.90 a ball, so this was a good bargain. I also bought the book Tadpoles and Tiddlers. I was going to get it when I went to Williamstown, but they had no copies left. Well I will try and take some progress pictures through the week, but I do not think that I will post any more family pics, all my commentors stopped commenting. Must have scared them off. Oh well, I hope you all have a great day!

Knitting Progress

Well I accomplished some knitting over the weekend. We had rainy days for Saturday and Sunday, and yesterday was not much better. I have had my washing on the line for 3 days now. Hopefully, since the sun is out they will dry today. So first up I have a progress pic of my sister's cardigan. This is the sleeve with the back and right front scrunched up on the needle. It is actually a charcoal color, but it seems to come out blue when I take a photo for some reason. I am hoping to do some more on this today.




Secondly we have the cabled hoodie which I started from Baby Cashmerino 2 on the weekend. I have nearly finished the back. It is an easy 4 row pattern and goes quite quickly. The patterns in this book are quite cute, and I can see myself making some more items out of this book in the future.








Next up, I finished the sweater for the Kelly doll. This pattern is from the books Knits for Children and Teddies by Fiona McTague. Isabelle picked out the colors, and I used less than a ball of each of Heirloom 8 Ply cotton for this. I just need to sew on a button or two, and it will be done. It only took 2 nights to complete. The pants will be done next.






And finally, a family picture from Mother's Day. This was taken at my mum's place just before we ate. Lachlan is wearing a jumper that I knit for him last year from Rowan Junior. It actually looks better in real life than in the photo. I did not knit Paul's or Isabelle's cardigans though. I wish the photo had turned out better. I will have to get my sister to take more than one picture next time, so I have a few to choose from. Well I am off to finish my housework, then take Isabelle to kindergarten, and then tonight I am going to dye my mum's hair for her. Have not done it in a while so her few gray hairs are starting to show. Well hope you all have a good day today! Bye for now.

Happy Mother's Day

It's Mother's Day today in Australia. I actually got to pick out what I wanted this year, and although we could not find a nice maple tree at the price that we wanted, $350.00 for one tree is a bit much, I did enhance my crafty goodness.

First up we have Baby Cashmerino 2 by Debbie Bliss, which I have wanted for a while. I can make some nice knits out of that for some presents. I also got some sock yarn, which is pretty true to the color, and 2 fabric strips. I do not know what the fabrics are, but I could not resist as they are gorgeous, and Isabelle helped pick them out for me. They came from a little patchwork shop in Williamstown, and the book came from Stitchery Blue in Williamstown. The sock yarn came from Lincraft in case anyone is interested. Well Paul and Isabelle are now cooking me breakfast. It is nice to see Isabelle all excited about it. I watered her little plant that she made at kindergarten for me. It is sitting on the windowsill trying to get some sunlight. Hopefully it will grow, and I will post a pic of it for you. As for knitting, well I found a book that I had been looking for around the house, and it was in my knitting basket, and I completed the front and back of a doll's jumper. I will try to knit the sleeves and collar today. A nice quick knit in about 2 hours so far. Well I had better go and browse through my new book and have brekkie. I hope that you all have a wonderful day today. See you all later!

More Pressies

We had morning tea for Mother's Day at the kindergarten today. The kids made fruit kebabs with marshmallows on them. A bit sticky, but nice. Isabelle won the 5th prize for the Mother's Day raffle, so she gave me a tea candle holder. Very pretty, but I will take a picture later on in the week. Now onto some knitting. Socks again. This is an Opal yarn with glitter through it. No sunshine so it is a bit hard to photograph. I started them last night, from a simple sock pattern that came from the yarn. I bought this yarn last year from The Wool Shack.

Well I do not have any other knitting pictures to show you guys for now, so I will leave you all with a picture of Isabelle dressed as a dancer. She is off to a 6th birthday party, for which I made the green jumper for a present. Hopefully my friend will like it, and it will fit over his head. Isabelle has been waiting all week for the fancy dress party, so 2 hours should fly by with about 26 kids there. Well I hope you all have a wonderful Mother's Day on Sunday, as I will be having lunch at my parent's house, and giving mum her sock yarn present. I will post an update on Sunday night or Monday. Have a great weekend.

What A Lovely Visit

Well what a nice day I have had. First up I went to Bacchus Marsh to visit Gillian. She is so nice and easy to talk to, and I met her husband too. She showed me her beautiful stripey socks with yarn that she dyed herself. They are gorgeous. Maybe one day I can dye yarn, but I don't think of myself as that clever. I also bought some lemon butter from her which is delicious by the way, could not help myself and tried some already, and she also gave me a gift of her raspberry jam, which Isabelle loves and has already enjoyed in her sandwiches. She said it is delicious Gillian! When Gillian returns from England we will have a meet up and hopefully take some photos too. She said that she does not have a lot of knitting patterns, and I have 3 large plastic containers full of knitting books, so she should have fun looking through those. You would also never guess, but she lives right next door to Paul's Auntie Joy. I was telling her how Paul's aunt lives in the street that she said she lived in, and I said she worked at the local supermarket, and she said that she lived next door to her. How great is that. Maybe we were destined to meet and become friends!
Well after meeting Gillian, I came home and finished knitting the baby jacket and sewed it up. It only needs some buttons now, and will be tucked away until the baby arrives in August. I hope that my neighbour likes it. It is not very bright in these pictures, but the colors are much more vibrant in real life. I love knitting this jacket, it is the second one that I have done. I made one in pink last year, and my friend rang to say that a few people wanted one, but I think that it is a bit stressful when you have to knit on demand. I like to knit baby clothes as presents, as it is always an original gift and I hope that the recipient appreciates it.

Well I had better go and decide on the next project to finish, even though I would like to start something different, maybe another pair of socks. Gillian has inspired me to knit some more after seeing her gorgeous ones. Well bye until tomorrow.

Surprises

Well what a morning. Checked my e-mail and Sharon had contacted me to tell me I had won her blogiversary competition. I cannot wait to see what surprise she is sending me. How exciting. Another exciting thing too, is that I am meeting Gillian from Red Umbrella today. She lives in Bacchus Marsh so its only a 10 minute drive. Well I will try and post some photos later today, and hopefully the baby jacket will be near completion by then too. See you all this afternoon.

Goodness Gracious

I did have another post typed up and ready to go, but you know how you rant on about when the kids are playing up and you are starting to pull your hair out, well that's what I did this morning. I then read it and felt that you all did not need to read about how much the kids have been fighting this week. It has been awful though, let me tell you. Isabelle has been complaining about a sore tooth, and yes her bottom tooth is loose. Do 4 year olds normally lose teeth this young. Lachie did not lose any until he was about 7 years of age, but he did not get any teeth until he was 8 months old, whereas Isabelle had teeth at 5 months old. Luckily I did not breastfeed her, it would have been a bit painful I think.
Now onto the knitting content. I have not taken any photos yet, but will try to today, as I have most of the baby jacket done. Just need to do the bands, and finish the hood, so hopefully by Friday I will have all the knitting done. I have not knit on anything else for the last 2 days, so this will be crossed off that list that I typed up a while back. I sat up and watched the miners and their friends at the pub. I could not believe that one of the trapped miners was out drinking with his friends all night, and had been to his mate's funeral as well. I think I would have gone home and slept all day. He must be on a high, realising how lucky he is to be alive. What a lucky couple of guys and they just walked out of the mine like the rescuers. Lastly, thank you for all the comments on my fish photo. It is not the best picture as the flash reflected in the shot, but parts of the aquarium are quite dark, so you need the flash to be able to see. Well I hope you all have a wonderful day, and I hope mine will be a lot quieter than the start of the week.

Tuesday 9th May

Well good news this morning, as the miners in Tasmania walked out this morning after being trapped in a mine for 14 days. Thank goodness that they are safe and well, and a big thanks to the rescuers too. A job done extremely well.
Now since I have no photos of my knitting as yet, I thought I would post a picture of some fish that I took at the aquarium last year. My nephew had his 2nd birthday there last year, and all the family went. The kids all had a great time. Lachlan even got soaked when they were feeding the eels, as it did a big tail flick and splashed water out of the feeding pool, and of course all over him. It was quite funny, and Lachie did not get too upset, just surprised I think. I like the Melbourne Aquarium. It was fun this time, and I didn't have to carry Isabelle around with me, as the first time she did not want to stay in her pram. I think we will take them to the Melbourne Zoo in a few weeks, if the weather is good, since Isabelle was only quite small the last time we took her, and I would like to see the Elephant Walk finished.
Now onto knitting, I have finished the two fronts of the baby jacket, and half of one sleeve. I did the sleeve and the front last night whilst watching The League of Extrordinary Gentlemen. It was okay actually. Paul fell asleep with Isabelle in the beanbag so Lachlan and I watched it amongst the snoring. I also started the front of Rae too. I am determined to finish the baby jacket this week. I think when I have a deadline I push myself to finish, and this will be one less item to knit up. I am also itching to start another pair of socks for me, since I have quite a few balls of sock yarn to knit up. Not as much as some of you have though. Well maybe after a few finished knits I will start some. I will have to look through my IK books and find a nice pattern. Well since I have bought new batteries for the camera I will try and take some photos either today or tomorrow, so I will post then. Hope you all have a good day.

Finished Project

The socks are finally finished. I completed them yesterday at about 5:00p.m. They fit Isabelle very well as you can tell by the modelled photo. I have washed them in a softener because she said that they were a bit itchy, so they softened up a fair bit when they were wet. Hopefully when they are completely dry they will not be itchy. There is one slight mistake that I did on the first sock, but it is only noticeable to me.

The pattern is Bubble Yum socks from Knitting Pattern A Day Calendar 2005 in Opal pink sock yarn. This was a 100gm ball and I think I only used about 50gms. The second sock was much faster and easier to knit once the pattern was memorised. Today I will try and finish some other project parts so that I can reduce my to do list.

And since it has been raining all night here and still is now, I will show you all a picture of our Japanese Maple tree which is in the front corner of our garden. It is actually a beautiful orange color at the moment, much brighter than in the photo. I love my front garden. I actually designed it myself, got Paul to dig most of the holes and planted all the plants and selected them. I even got our old neighbours to do the paving in the garden in the shape that I wanted so I like to take pride in the fact that it is all my own ideas. As for the back yard, well that is all dirt and puddles and looks awful at the moment. We are not doing any work out there until the dogs grow up, and of course we build our pergola. I have been thinking of doing quite a bit out at the side garden though where the clothesline is. Isabelle's sandpit is out there, and the little garden shed, and I would like to do up the garden and have my garden chair out there. I could knit out there in the summertime. Well I hope you all have a wonderful day and I will try and post some updates during the week.

New Cable Sweater

Here is the new pattern that I bought yesterday. I started it last night with some Cara Mia yarn, which I already had in my stash (thank goodness). It is quite an easy pattern actually. This is about 3 hours of knitting which is probably not that much to some of you guys. The color is actually like a dark wine color. I am making this for Isabelle for next year so it is a bigger size. The book is a Panda one which uses any 8 ply yarns for these patterns. There are actually about 4 or 5 that I like in this book for boys and girls.

I also have started the heel decreasing on the second sock so hopefully by tomorrow it will be finished and I will be able to take a picture for you all. I think I need to find a way to take better photos of my projects. The color is never right and I see other blogs whose photographs are beautiful and it feels like you are right there in the photo. Maybe I need a better camera (which wont happen for a very long time) so I think I need to improve my skills. Oh and if anyone using blogger knows how to get their favourite sites to tell them when they have updated, and a marker appears next to their website, would anyone be willing to help me so I know how to do it. I still cannot upload my photo onto my comments either. Any help would be appreciated. Well I am going to attempt to hang my washing out and hope that it does not rain in the next few hours, and that the wind will dry Lachie's school uniforms for Monday. I hope that you all have a wonderful day, and for those who need the rain (like we do too) I hope you get some!

Quiet Friday

Well Isabelle is in bed asleep, Lachie's at his mate's place for the night, and Paul's watching the footy in the garage, so I have managed to sneak some time on the computer. Unfortunately no photos have been taken as it has rained here all day and been dark and grey. I have done a bit more on Isabelle's sock, knitted some more on the baby jacket, and started another baby top for a little girl, just in case. I also went to my LYS and bought a kid's pattern book. I was after a doll's clothing book, but she had just sold the last ones. She is reordering some more so I will have a look and hopefully see something that looks okay. I also bought some more Snuggly DK wool in a fair isle and a denim blue for a jumper that I like to make for boys. I have made 2 so far, and they are quick and easy, but this will not be knit up for a few months yet. I think this wet weather is making me tired and not really in the mood for knitting. I can feel my eyes getting tired by about 7:30pm, and it makes knitting a bit hard when you have sore eyes. Maybe if I go to bed earlier I will be able to get up earlier and do some knitting and housework. Well I had better stop rambling on and hope that the weather is better tomorrow for some updated photography. See you all tomorrow, and I hope that all you people going to the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival in the States have a great time. Wish I could go but its a long long long way away from here in Melbourne. Cannot wait to see all of your purchases and new stuff. Well bye for now.

Meme - Seven Things

Well I have been tagged by Gillian today for the seven things meme, so here goes. I have never done one before so I hope that I'm not too boring.

Seven things to do before I die

See my kids grow up and have families of their own
Travel Australia
Get married (yes I know, how shocking)
Own our house
Knit all my stash (I may have to live to be 110)
Have a holiday house at the beach
Take my kids on a fantastic holiday

Seven things I cannot do

Speak another language
Knit lace patterns (I always have trouble with one side for some reason)
Try to have time on the computer (kids always want me to do something)
Get over my fear of heights
Stop buying yarn (hee hee)
Hop on an airplane
Get sunburnt (I have already survived skin cancer once)


Seven things that attract me to my partner

His sparkly eyes
His voice
His kisses and hugs
His intelligence
His compassion
His generosity
The way that he understands me so well

Seven books which have had the most impact on me

All the Harry Potter books (that should cover a few)
Lord of the Rings trilogy
The Hobbit
The Magic Faraway Tree (I read this as a child and absolutely loved it)
The Trixie Beldon Mysteries (also read as a child)
Looking at this list makes me think I like to escape reality

Seven things I say

I love you
Pick your dirty socks up (Lachlan tends to leave his wherever he sits - disgusting)
Hello Daisy
Don't forget your lunch (Lachlan again - and he did forget his lunch this morning)
Hang on a minute
Turn the television down please (everyone has to have it loud in this house, drives me nuts)
Have you done your homework (Oh the joys of having a teenager)

Seven Movies I've Loved

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
The Lord of the Rings
Just like heaven (watched it on the weekend)
Must Have Dogs (so funny and good)

Yes, I am a Harry Potter fan, and I like to watch kid's shows too. Paul doesnt like watching them so the kids are lucky that I don't mind them too much.

Now I have to tag four more people so the lucky four are:

Laura, Karin, Samantha, and Jane.

More Miss Bea Knits

Thank you for all the wonderful comments on the Tea for Two sweater. Very much appreciated. Isabelle loves it too. In relation to the pattern for the sweater, it was from Miss Bea's Rainy Day book by Louisa Harding. I have all of the books, and I have knit quite a few jumpers from them. They are all fairly simply patterns and do not use much yarn. I think for the sweater I used about 5 1/2 balls of Zhivago wool.

Now this picture is of a jacket that I made Isabelle last year from Miss Bea's Beachside book. It is the first pattern in the book, and I cannot recall the name of it, but this little jacket is good for either boys or girls, and so easy. I loved knitting this. I used Zara yarn for this, and I extended the body before the armholes by about 10 rows since Isabelle is quite tall for her age. I usually increase the shorter patterns in Miss Bea's range by about 10 rows so they last longer in length for Isabelle.



And this is the sweater that I had to sew up again yesterday. I do not think that my seaming is very good on this one, but I fixed it all last night. It is from Miss Bea's Dress Up books, and I have not knit a lot of patterns from this book. Maybe further on down the track. It is actually all purple, not blues as it looks in this picture.

I had a lot of time to knit yesterday as Isabelle stayed at her friends until 6:00 pm. I arrived there at 4:30 mind you, and she did not want to leave. Her friend lives on a big farm of about 28 acres in Toolern Vale, and the view is gorgeous. Toolern Vale is about 10 mins drive from Melton, but is mostly a forest of gum trees with dirt roads going through the forest with big farms or properties on them. It is so beautiful there, and there is no noise from the traffic or pollution. When I arrived there, there were 2 kangaroos just sitting in the paddock watching me. We do not have kangaroos in the suburbs, but since Toolern Vale is sort of bushlike, the kangaroos seem to like the protection of all the trees. When Lachlan was younger, we used to drive down an old dirt road in Toolern Vale and this particular property used to have about 20 kangaroos in it just watching you. They used to like to come out just before sunset. Lachie used to love it.
So by the time I left it was dark and I dropped Isabelle back home, and went and did some grocery shopping. It was nice to be able and go and do it by myself for once. Usually someone tries to push the shopping trolley for me all the time. So by the time I sat down to knit it was about 9:00. I did some more knitting on the back of the Rae jacket, so hopefully today I will be able to do some more to finish that piece. I have not done any more knitting on the baby jacket as yet, but I will try and do some more on that as well, and the remaining sock too. Well I hope that you all have a wonderful day, and hopefully by tomorrow I might have a pair of socks to show you all.

Time for Tea

Tea for Two sweater that is. I finished it this morning, and sewed it up. Isabelle was going to her little friend's house after kinder today, so I had some free time. I think it will fit just right. I still cannot get the color to show up though. It is actually a nice bright sunny yellow with orange through it, but it seems to come up a sickly white/yellow pale color. Well at least it is finished, and I did it before the end of the week.




I also did some more sock knitting. I tried the sock on Isabelle again, and she seemed to like it. I finished it up last night, and started the second one. Should have it finished in a few days hopefully, unless I get busy or sidetracked again. Well that is all for now. I am off to repair a jumper that I knitted for Isabelle last year. I don't think my seaming skills were too good on this one, as one seam has come undone. Well I hope you all have a lovely day.

New Books

Good morning everyone. I feel so good this morning due to the fact that Isabelle slept in her own bed all night and did not wake up once. I feel re-energized. A good night's sleep will do that I think. Well first up is a picture of the new sock yarn that I bought for my mum for mother's day, along with the other color that I bought myself a few posts ago. I am hoping that she will like these as they are nice and soft.


Next up are the books that I bought. Debbie Bliss' Simply Family is a nice easy pattern book. Nothing too difficult in here. I especially love the parka which is the photo on the left. They also had a nice men's ribbed jacket, a baby blanket done in moss stitch, a baby jacket in garter stitch, a few jackets for women and another man's jumper. They are all nice and easy to do.






I especially like this ribbed jacket, although I would make it longer in length. No use having a spare tyre hanging out of where a flat tummy should be. I think this will be on my future project list. I also bought Vogue Knitting. The skirt on the cover looks gorgeous, but I don't think I have the figure to wear that. I didn't like a lot of the patterns in this however, although one was a crossover cardi in blue and green that looked quite nice.

Well onto some knitting progress. I finished up one sleeve of the Tea for Two sweater last night. Progress will be made today on sleeve 2 when Isabelle goes to her afternoon kindy class. I did all of my ironing yesterday, and my housework this morning so I will have 3 hours free time to myself today. Yippee! I did some more on Isabelle's sock, but she tried it on and said that it is too itchy. Opal yarn does seem to have a certain roughness to it. Maybe I will pull it back and make something for me, and knit up another pair in some Patonyle sock yarn that I have. Well it made good practice to knit up, so the next pair should be better, I hope. Hope you all have a good day and I will post when I have some further progress to show you all.

Winter

Well it certainly feels like winter now. It has rained all weekend, and is still drizzling. There is no sunshine today, so I tried to take some photos inside, but the colors aren't great. My headache finally went away, so I was able to knit a bit more on the Tea for Two sweater. I finished the front last night, so now all that's left are the sleeves and the collar. It should be finished this week I hope. I have Lachlan home today with a sore throat, but at least Isabelle is feeling better.









I also took some pictures of Isabelle's sock in progress. I have a few more repeats to go before I start the heel shaping. I hope it's not too wide for her. It is the pattern called Bubble Yum socks. The pattern seems to make the sock puff out from the top. I am hoping these will fit for a long time since the last pair I knit only fit for about 1 month. Well Monday is the day I clean the whole house, so I had better get started. Try to hang some washing out on the clothes rack and wash school uniforms. Oh what a fun day. Hopefully try to get it all done this morning so I will be able to do some more knitting. See you all tomorrow.