Christmas Is Nearing!

Here are the cute little postcards that I received from one of postcard partners. Soo sent me 3 little Christmas tree postcards, which I think are adorable. She also makes really lovely things, as I checked out her blog as soon as I received them. How nice to receive such nice little pressies in the mail.

Also as promised I finished the dress for my friend's daughter for Christmas.
Pattern: Thinking Dress from Miss Bea's Rainy Day book.
Yarn: Cotton Ease in Turquoise. I only used about 1 and a half balls.
Size: 1 to 2 years.
I sewed a little blue heart on the neckline at the back to fasten the opening. I think it came out rather cute. Pity I never made one for Isabelle, but I did knit her one in denim but with just plain stockinette stitch, and a pink flower appliqued on it. It still hangs in the wardrobe and has only been worn a few times. Maybe I will show it later in the week and see if anybody with a little girl would like it. I think it is about a size 3 to 4 years.

I also finished up my other Christmas knit for my friend's son who is nearly 1 year old. This is George from the Jaeger 29 book. I omitted the pockets, I just dont think it is a good idea to provide hidey holes for food in knitted items, and it might get a bit soggy too, so I think it turned out okay. This is the 1 to 2 year size, and I used Zhivago in an olive color. Nice and soft. Now to pop these into the Christmas present pile to be wrapped, and they are good to go. Happy knitting!

Miss Bea's Thinking Dress

This is the picture that I tried to post yesterday, but it seems as though the computer did not want to co-operate yesterday. So today I tried again, and hooray it worked. This is actually the front piece. I originally thought that both pieces had the cables, but no only the front does. I cast on for the back last night so hopefully I will finish that piece tonight. I am using Cotton Ease in turquoise, and I used about 3/4 of the ball. Hopefully tomorrow I may just have another finished Christmas gift to show you all and then I can wrap and send both presents off to the wee little people they are intended for. Happy knitting!

Monday Morning

Ruby this morning in Isabelle's doll's house.
I have been knitting away lately, trying to finish off some more Christmas pressies, and making trips to the post office. I have mailed off the parcels to the winners of my contest, and hopefully they will arrive at their destinations very soon. I received a postcard this morning, but it had nothing to say who it was from, just that it was mailed from London. It is obviously part of the postcard swap I am participating in, but I did assume that you were to notify who it was from. It is quite a nice handmade postcard and it is already adorning my cabinet in the kitchen so I can look at it. I sent off all my postcards on Friday, so my "to do" list is gettin shorter thankfully. I also received my Cotton Ease on Friday morning, after waiting 10 weeks for the mail to ship it to me. A big thank you to Karyn who ordered it for me and posted it off in September. Naughty mail system taking so long. I ordered red, blue, yellow, pink, green and turquoise. I have already started the Thinking Dress by Louisa Harding in the turquoise as I only had 2 balls of it, so luckily the front or back is done, and it only used 1 ball. It will be a Christmas present for my friend's daughter who is 1 years old. I have already finished the Bo Peep cardigan for her other daughter who is just about the same age as Isabelle. Isabelle modelled it for the photo. I hope it will be well worn too and that she likes it. I did take a picture of the Thinking Dress too but for some reason the picture wont post, so I will take another one later on and hopefully it will upload onto the blog. Well that is all for now as Paul and I plan to do a tip run tomorrow, so we have been sorting out the garage full of junk, Isabelle's toys and clothes to take to the Salvation Army, and I think maybe soon I will have to make a bit of room in my yarn stash. It seems to be taking over the house literally so it needs to be sorted, along with some pattern books too. More on that later, and I hope you all have a wonderful day.
P.S. Thank you to all the wonderful people who left me a comment about Beary Bear, I appreciated them all very much and they made me feel like the effort was worth it too!

Meet Beary

the bear. Pattern: Best Friends Bear from IK Gifts Issue 2006.
Yarn: 5 ply yarn. - Just over 1 ball of cream, and half a ball each of the navy and dark pink.
Started: Saturday and finished on Wednesday afternoon.

This is really the first knitted toy that I have made. I am giving this to our neighbour's daughter who is nearly 2 years old, for Christmas. I hope she likes it. Isabelle and Lachlan have requested a knitted bear too, but theirs will have to wait until next year when I have more time, and can be bothered making another one. I find these bears very fussy to make with all the increases and decreases, and I need to improve my sewing skills too I think. Maybe they will be less fussy the more I make of them. Well I wont find out for a while will I. Now onto finishing the scarves for Isabelle's kinder teachers, and then not much more to knit for presents. Happy knitting everyone!

And The Winners Are

Froggie Meanie who is the lucky winner of the Toys to Sew book.
Rheylnn from Knit Owl is the lucky winner of the Interweave Knits Fall 2006 edition.

Please email me with your addresses and I will post them out to you later on this week okay. If for any reason you do not want the prizes listed, then let me know and I can get Isabelle to draw another name out of the bag. Thank you to all the people who commented on my blog for the contest. It was so nice to hear from people who had not commented before, and to be able to read some new blogs too, and discover new people. I love discovering new knitters around the world, and this contest has let me do a little bit of that. Tomorrow I will hopefully have a new knit to show you, which is another Christmas present, but I will keep it a secret until then. I hope you all have a wonderful knitting day too!

REMEMBER

THE CONTEST WINNERS WILL BE ANNOUNCED ON WEDNESDAY NIGHT, AROUND 7:00PM. I WILL STOP THE ENTRY OF NAMES ON TUESDAY NIGHT AT MIDNIGHT, SO ANYBODY ELSE WHO WOULD LIKE TO ENTER, JUST POST A COMMENT AND I SHALL ENTER YOUR NAME TOO! GOOD LUCK EVERYONE.....

This is mum's bag for Christmas. I sat down last night and cut out all of the pieces, and today I sewed it up. After a few mishaps of sewing handles on the wrong way, having the top the wrong side up, and unpicking them all, I have finally finished. Do you like it. I hope my mum does. The pattern is from the bag book that I bought a few weeks ago, and posted about. It is not too hard to make, and look at how nicely the zip was stitched in, I was quite proud of myself. So now all I have to do is finish off a baby cardigan, and another scarf.


This scarf is from the Jo Sharp book, Gathering. It is called Checkers, and I really like the pattern. I am using Naturally Merino which is a 10 ply, so it is really lovely and soft. I think I will make a different scarf for the other teacher, and they are both lovely people, so I hope they like them. I have also finished the postcards, but I did not end up making fabric ones, I just used glitter and Christmas stickers and stars to stick them into picture postcards. I think they are cute, so I hope the recipients like them too. I will put them in the envelopes tonight, and get them ready to send off in about 2 weeks. Well off to knit some more on the scarf, just another ball and a half to go, or maybe I will add another, it depends on the length, so happy knitting and sewing everybody!

Bits and Pieces

I have been knitting and sewing in preparation for Christmas. I have a few things I would like to make for presents, and here is the first one. It is the cable and moss stitch hat from Debbie Bliss's book Baby Cashmerino. I used Feathersoft 8 ply, in a nice blue color, which is quite a soft and thin yarn, so it is perfect for making baby items. I did not even use 1 ball so I shall use the remnants of the ball with another color and make a different hat too. This hat is going to our next door neighbour's son who is nearly a month old, as a Christmas present. One off the list, a few more to go. I have also been buying some new baby patterns (not for me), just to knit up for people who have babies, or little presents for older babies. My LYS had some new books in the other day and I could not resist. These are Dalegarn books, by Dale of Norway and the patterns in these books are gorgeous. I see some in the future for babies of friends and relatives.
Yesterday my arm was aching again, which it does from time to time so I decided to trace out a top for Isabelle from one which I had bought a few weeks ago, but in a different color. I traced around the top, omitted the buttons and the gathering of the sleeves, and voila a new top for under $5.00. How convenient, and she actually likes it too. I know it will only fit her for this summer though. She grows so fast, and speaking of growing fast Ruby is doing the same thing. Here she is sitting in the drink holder of the seat. She is nearly 6 weeks old now, totally toilet trained and eats and drinks too, the eating part she seems to love.

I must also say a big thank you to those people who have commented. Just remember that you do not have to leave your name on the post for the contest, any comment posted from that post to the post on the 22nd of November are being entered onto the list, but if you do not want to be entered, please let me know okay! Well off to finish some more Christmas knitting and I hope you all have a lovely weekend too.

Djerriwarrh Festival

I have just returned from the Djerriwarrh Festival. It is a festival held in Melton each year. We watched the parade for an hour, went and had a look at the craft stalls, bought some showbags, and Isabelle had her face painted by her teacher who taught her in 3 yr old kindergarten. She is actually supposed to be smiling in that picture.
I even popped over to visit with the Machine Knitters Association just to
see what sort of things they made. They had bolero type cardigans in Isabelle's size for $5.00 each, so I bought the last 2 they had left. The one pictured is actually a beautiful silvery blue/teal color, and I also got a white one which is made from a cotton and is a bit tighter in the arms. They will be perfect to wear over summer. I also bought a little bag made out of colored sock yarn for $3.00. Unfortunately the picture will have to wait, the camera ate the one that I took.
Also thank you to the people who have finally decided to leave me a comment on my blog. I am enjoying reading some new knitting bloggers and having a look at all the wonderful things that they create, and I have entered all of your names in the contest too. If the numbers keep increasing, a 3rd prize of some yarn will be added too!

Also, please go over and visit with Gillian. She has received some unfortunate and sad news, so please go and give her a hug and warm wishes. She needs them right now, and we are all thinking of you Gillian!

Contest Time

Cup Day in the Park is held at Bacchus Marsh every Cup Day which is the 2nd Tuesday in November. Paul's grandmother lives right across the road from where this is held, and we usually visit her at the same time. Yesterday we went even though it was raining and cold. We have vowed not to go again, since it has lost the magic of a good day out. I think the organizers need to get new people to run it. Anyway, apart from that Isabelle got her face painted as a unicorn. Doesnt she look cute. Lachlan had a ride on the dodgem cars, and we had a look around at the very few stalls that were there, and then went to visit my niece whose birthday it was. She loved the books that I had bought for her, (she just turned 8) so I am happy I got her something she liked. I love shopping for presents for kids, so much fun. Lachlan also managed to pick 1st place in the Melbourne Cup race, and I got 2nd!

The day before the mailman had finally delivered my Knitting Calendar for 2007, I missed out on 2006. They had problems shipping it out from the US, so I had to wait for a few months. Some nice patterns in it, lots of felted bags, different sock patterns and kids socks too. I like a few tops in it too, but will have to read through it more thoroughly before I start anything in it. They even have a few Christmas decorations to knit, and they are rather cute. I dont have time to knit any this year though as I still have to finish off a few things.

NOW FOR THE CONTEST DETAILS
Firstly, it is not a hard contest. I would just like to get some more comments on my blog from people who perhaps read my blog and do not comment. I know I have some people who leave me very wonderful comments, and they all know who they are, so all you need to do is leave me a comment over the next 2 weeks and I will get Isabelle and Lachlan to pick a name for the 2 prizes you can win. First prize is the book Toys to Sew which is a wonderful book by Claire Garland who also published the book Knitted Babes.

Second prize, a copy of the Fall Interweave Knits magazine. It is brand new and has never even been looked at. I got my copy a few months ago, and am now waiting on the Winter 2006 copy. I will also have a third prize if I get a lot of comments so we shall see how many we get. I will draw the prizewinners on the 23rd of November, which also happens to be Paul's grandmother's birthday so stay tuned. I look forward to hearing from you all. I hope you all have a wonderful day!

Molly the Dolly

No knitting content today, so to fill in the gap I decided I would show you what I made for Isabelle last Thursday, after seeing Ruby the doll over on Molly Chicken's blog. Her doll looks absolutely adorable, one factor I think I left out for Isabelle's doll. She named it Molly, (no answer as to why she chose that name), and promptly carried it around the house yesterday. Today she has been given a rest whilst Isabelle is playing outside on her scooter. I remember when I was about 14 years of age and I used to scrounge through the bags of outgrown clothes mum had stashed away, and pick something out of the bag, cut it up to make something out of it. I used to make dolls back then too, and they were all stitched by hand. Mum would not have let me use her sewing machine back then, even though I did do some sewing classes at school. I dont know where any of those things went to that I made, but making this doll brought back some of those memories. I would like to make some more dolls in the future, but on a much better scale. Does anybody know of any great books for doll and toy making out there. I have ordered a book called Toys to Sew, but if anybody knows of any other great ones please let me know. I would greatly appreciate it.

Bo Peep Is Finished

Here is Isabelle modelling the cardigan that is a present for a friend's daughter, and is so cute in the book. I did do the original pattern on Bianca's so I just embroidered zigzags on the pink panels. Dont look too closely at the ties, that's my poor attempt at crochet. I used Zara merino wool, which I love and is really quite soft.
Pattern: Rowan Classic Bambino book, Bo Peep cardigan
Yarn: Zara merino, I'm not sure how much I used but only a few balls of each color.
Needles: 3 1/4 and 4mm needles.
At least I know it will fit my friend's daughter as they are about the same size, so now I can wrap it up for Christmas and send it off.

Now for all of you here is a picture of the kinder kids from Thursday at the fire station. Isabelle did not dress up in the little firemen uniforms, but quite a lot of others did. This is the mat that they were learning to do the pencil roll on. They all look so cute dressed up, and to the left of the picture is Mrs. O'Brien, the assistant teacher in Isabelle's class. She is lovely. 3 classes went in total, and they all had a wonderful time.



I also managed to take a better photo of the socks this morning. You can actually see the twisted stitches now, and the overcast weather outside actually helped I think. I have not knit anymore than this as I am knitting on a present for my friend's daughter's birthday present in December. I am knitting Sport from Rowan Pipsqueaks, in a variegated pink,purple and white. It is looking quite nice at the moment, and I have just gotten past the armholes. So that is it for today, hope you all have a wonderful weekend, and thanks for your concern about Lachlan. He is much better, and is playing Playstation in the rumpus room, and is acting like his old self now.

Conway Socks

I have finally taken a picture of the socks that I started last week. Can you make out the tiny twisted stitches along the sock. The flash seems to have brightened it up quite a bit hasnt it. I quite like this pattern, and it only consists of 4 rows. It is from the book Knitting On the Road by Nancy Bush, which I am sure all sock knitters know by now. I was going to take a picture yesterday but Paul took the camera with him as he and Isabelle went with the kindergarten for a trip to the big fire station in Sunshine. They teach the children how to do the pencil roll to put flames out on their clothes, dress up like small firemen/women and they also showed their new fire engine which goes up 37 metres into the sky. Paul said he loved it, not so much the noise of the children though. The children got to crawl through tunnels and sit in the fire truck and many more things there. I do have some photos but that will be for later. I was home with Lachlan as he was bashed up by a boy on Wednesday night at a computer place he goes to with his friends after school. We had to go to the school to report it, as the bully goes to the same school but is a year above Lachlan. Lachlan has a bruise under his chin, and his jaw has been aching, and his left side is a bit bruised. The doctor did say it would take a few days to go down, so Lachlan is taking some Nurofen for the anti-inflammatory effect. He is still home today, but is doing some homework. Monday is a curriculum day and Tuesday is Melbourne Cup Day, so he wont be back at school until Wednesday so hopefully his face will look and feel better by then. I was so angry when Lachlan told me that the kid had kicked him in the head, (that's what the bruise is from) that I felt like doing the same to the kid, not that I would but it is so frustrating having people pick on your children. I am waiting to hear from the police officer during the week to see what happened. Apparently they get a verbal warning from the Seargeant, but if he has any other prior complaints against him it will go on his record. I hope this makes him think twice before attacking somebody. I hope he does not do this to anybody else's child either. Well enough of my complaining, it just makes me feel better to write it down and get it out of my system. Also thank you for all your wonderful comments about the bag for my sister. I have tucked it away into my finished handknits box to wrap up later on. I hope you all have a wonderful day of knitting and crafting, and may your children be safe from bullies too.

One Off The Christmas List

Pattern: Cable and Moss Stitch bag from Debbie Bliss Home book.
Yarn: Debbie Bliss Maya yarn, 2 balls
Started: Monday afternoon
Finished: Tuesday at 7:00pm

I loved making this bag for my sister's Christmas present. It only took a couple of hours to knit up. I stitched the lining in last night, using a purple striped flannel fabric. The purple is not as blue looking as in the photo, but you know my camera by now with blues and purples, they never look accurate in their color. This was a fun bag to make, and very very easy. The yarn is doubled and knit on 8mm needles, and the handles are knit on 5 1/2mm needles. I suppose if I sat down and did nothing else apart from knit the bag I could do it in one day. Isabelle wanted to claim it as her own last night, and has now said that I must knit her one too. I think I will do that next year as I need to finish some other things off this month. I am actually going to start my Christmas postcards today for a swap I am in, and hopefully they wont take too long to do because I need to send them off by December 1st. The kindergarten has a lot of things on in December so I shall be busy.
The kids had a fun time trick or treating last night, and came home with a big bag of candy. Fortunately they knew not to eat too much of it or they would get tummy aches. I sat and knit on my sock last night too, so tomorrow I will post the progress pictures of it. Happy knitting!