Sock Blockers

Yesterday afternoon the parcel man delivered my sock blockers that I purchased from Helen. Arent they beautifully made. There are lambs engraved onto the fronts too, which I think suits them very well. I tried my sock on for size yesterday, and now realise why my socks are always turning out so short. Look how short the sock looks. It is short on my leg too. I think from now on I will be trying them on the sock blockers instead of my feet for the length from the top to the heel! These are size large, since I have big feet (size 10), and my sister has the same size too, so I can use these for her socks as well. Thank you Helen for making these for me.

Isabelle also got a nice pressie yesterday. Her school had an Easter raffle, and she got 9th prize, a bunny rabbit and a rabbit lollipop too. I had to take the photo before she started eating it. I am glad to say she only ate a small part of the rabbit before putting it away for another day. She was quite excited to win something. Please excuse her hair, she had just gotten home from school and since she likes to run around so much this is how she normally looks returning home. I think I will have to start putting more hairclips in her hair to keep it out of her face. By the way, thank you all for the lovely comments on the stripey hoodie, I loved them all. You are all such wonderful people giving me motivation to create more when I really need it. Sometimes I just lose my motivation and dont do any knitting for a few days. I had been in a bit of a slump this week, but now I am knitting another baby knit for a blogger, so no photos in case she peeks beforehand. I might give you all a little peek soon, but hopefully she wont be able to tell what it is. I hope you all have a really wonderful day, and may your weekend be filled with lots of knitting!

FO No. 9

Hooded Striped Top from Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino.

Size: 12 - 18 months.

Yarn: Cotone Cotton from Spotlight

3 balls of each.

Started: March sometime (I will have to check). Finished: 28th March '07

I really loved knitting this little sweater, and it was finished about 2 days ago, but I only seamed it up last night. I seem to have lost my motivation to knit lately, but I am hoping that will return soon enough with the colder weather starting to return. We even had rain the other night so it was great for the garden, and hopefully the water dams too. The kids are on holidays for 2 weeks as of tomorrow, so I dont know how much I will get to knit and blog, but fingers crossed. We have my nephew's birthday party on Saturday so I am hoping the jacket is not too creased when he opens it up. He was sick last weekend so the party date was changed to this weekend instead. Here is hoping for some nice weather too so the kids dont go nuts being inside all day long. Well off to vacuum and do some laundry, all the exciting things we put off until it becomes too much. I hope you all have a lovely day.

Kids and Kittens

Here are the kids and the kittens this morning before school in our bed. Bella is with Isabelle and always likes to snuggle up near you to go to sleep. Coco on the other hand usually lies down near your feet and goes to sleep, never near faces, unless she wants cuddle times, and then rubs her whole body against your head. Bella would sleep on the bed all day if I let her. She eats so much food that her little body bulges after she makes a piggy of herself. Coco usually just has a small bite to eat and then comes back later to finish it off, unless of course Bella has gobbled up her bowl full as well. Coco has now turned a beautiful black color, as all her kitten fur has come off, and the chocolate brown color has now all disappeared. They have now quietened down as I cant hear them wrestling each other. Bella has been sneaky lately. She likes to steal things out of Isabelle's room when we arent watching her. The other day Isabelle and I could hear this noise, and we turned around and here is Bella dragging a paint brush away down the hallway. I think she liked the bristles, but did not get to chew on it as Isabelle rushed over and took it back. Then a few moments ago, I just heard Bella dragging something else down the hallway, which turns out to be Isabelle's purple fluffy bird pen. She seems to like to find treasures to hide and chew on. I think from now on Isabelle will have to hide those things in her wardrobe so Bella cant jump up and take them.

Now since I have waffled on about the kittens for those of you who were interested, I do have knitting content, but no FO's just yet. Spotlight had cute little buttons and knitting needles for children too. The cat buttons I could not resist as they look so cute. I am sure that I will find a good use for them later on. The knitting needles were only $3 a pair. The rabbit ones are 4.5mm and the teddies are 5mm. They had different animals for different sizes. I loved the giraffe ones too, but they were a bit thick for Isabelle to handle. I will show you a photo of Isabelle's knitting one day. I promised her that when she had done a fair bit of progress on her scarf I would show you all. She really is good when she gets into the rhythmn of it too. Tomorrow I should have the stripey baby jumper finished, just one sleeve left to knit up and then seam it all together. Hopefully then I will finish the other green sock which has been waiting in the UFO basket, but at least it wont get too lonely in there with the other projects!

Hooded Stripey Baby Sweater

I am making progress on the sweater. This is the 12 to 18 month size, so lots of room for growing little babies. Hopefully I will have it finished soon. It has been languishing in the WIP basket for a bit, so I thought to get rid of the boredom I would pull it out and finish it off. It seems to have reignited my knitting mojo, so that is always a good thing. The Jethro Jacket has seen a few rows done too, and I must remind myself not to knit on that one whilst watching a favourite show. I redid row 9 about 4 times last night through my own stupidity of not concentrating. It is all fixed now and having a little rest in time out for a while. I also only have one sleeve left to complete on Isabelle's cardigan and then onto the seaming. I hope to knit the sleeve tomorrow and Saturday so she can hopefully wear it on Sunday to the birthday party of my nephew. I hope you all have a wonderful day!

Good afternoon! I would like to thank everyone who wished me to recover sooner, I think it worked as yesterday I finally decided to do some sewing and knitting. The pattern for the teddy that I bought on Saturday got opened, and I sat and sewed her yesterday. I think she looks quite cute in an unusual way, but Isabelle likes her so that is a good thing since it is for her. I decided to use an apricot color for the hearts on her, I was going to originally do a light green but changed my mind at the last minute. I changed the buttons too, from circles to hearts which I think match perfectly.
Now onto something else I have been waiting for. A mini pup from Manda. For some strange reason the postal service returned him to her last week, but he has now made the trip safely to our house. We have named him Ruff and he fits in my hand. Isabelle was so excited when I told her the envelope was from Manda, as she has been looking at all the pups she has been making too, and loving them all. I seem to get the idea that Isabelle thinks that when our parcel guy comes to the

door that it is automatically something for her. It is nearly always my orders that she seems to love. This was the conversation we had whilst I was checking my emails before school drop off.
Isabelle "Mum, look how cute and tiny he is"
Me "Yes, his gorgeous isnt he".
Isabelle "Look he even has a little tshirt on too", and "Look at his little ears, and his eyes, and his little tail".
Me "Yes, he is just like the picture isnt he"
Isabelle "Yes, but he looks much smaller than the picture on the computer mum, so maybe I should look after him in my room. Wish I could take him to school, everyone would love him"
Me: "yes, but then everyone else would want him too, and his not big enough to go all the other kid's houses".
Isabelle: "Oh yeah, okay he can stay on your bed until I get home from school and then I can look after him in my room"
Well it seems as though I only got to own him for a few short minutes and that was it. He is still sitting on my bed, and the kittens have given him the sniff test too. Luckily for them he did not have to go through the clawing and chewing test too, otherwise they would be banned from the bed. I know where Ruff will be sleeping tonight, having lots of cuddles and kisses I'm sure! Hope you all have a wonderful and lovely week too.

Stitches And Craft Show - Caulfield

Isabelle and I popped into the Stitches and Craft Show this morning, whilst Paul was working in Brunswick.

I bought 2 patterns, one for the teddy in the bottom right hand corner, and little phone pouches to embroider. I can see some people getting phone pouches for xmas this year.






I also popped into a few of the yarn stalls and bought some Cocoon wool, for a baby jumper. It was only $4.95 a ball, and at Spotlight they sell it for $6.00. I also bought some new Tofutsie sock yarn from Eco Yarn in the gorgeous pink colors, and I also bought some Jigsaw sock yarn, in a brand new shade. Apparently they have released 4 new shades all with pink in them. They are all nice colors too.





And lastly the pink chenille which Isabelle chose for the teddy pattern in the first picture, and a yo yo maker. I am planning on making quite a few of these as I have seen some bags and purses made out of them and I think they look great. i did not go last year to the show so this I think I kept to my budget and did not go overboard.

Oh by the way if anyone knows of any place in Australia that sells those sock blockers could you please let me know.

Thank You Beth

Here are the wonderful goodies that I received from leaving a comment on Beth's blog. She drew my name last week and told me she would be sending the sock yarn, but she included those delicious looking cookies too, and the lovely postcard of Seattle. Beth knits up wonderful socks too, so make sure you go and have a peek over at her blog when you have time. Thank you so much Beth, you have made me feel much better today since I still have this horrible headcold.
I also ordered the Jo Sharp Issue 3 book from The Knittery. I have not seen it anywhere else, and she just got some copies in. I have had a quick glance through the book and there are some lovely patterns in it, quite a few I would like to make including the vest on the front cover. Well that is about it for now, I am off to bed with my box of tissues and hopefully some sleep whilst the kids are still at school.

Knitting Beyond The Edge

I bought this book from Meaghan and it arrived this morning. Looking through the pages there are so many wonderful ideas for edgings, cuffs, collars, adding beads and so on. I think today will be spent reading through it all and seeing what ideas will inspire me to one day knit my own sweater. Did I just say that, well let's not hold our breath on that one. I really do admire people who design their own knitwear and do it so well. Just when you think that nobody else can design something else that you would like to knit, out come all the new magazines and books, and hundreds of new patterns too. I dont know how they do it, but some of them do it really well.

I also bought the sock kit for the Lizard Ridge socks, and the color is much more orange than in the photo. I think I am going through an orange phase at the moment, I just seem to like that color and it does not even suit me either. The color of this Melody yarn is Y08 which is a blend of a dark and a lighter orange together. I hope they knit up nicely, but they will be set aside for later next month to complete. I am hoping that my sniffly nose goes away today too, as I feel as though I am about to get a dose of a cold or something similar. Not feeling quite 100%, but I just had a honey and lemon drink so hopefully it will make me feel better. Thank you all too for the wonderful comments on the Jethro Jacket . I have not touched it since, yes I know shame on me, but I have been trying to finish a cardigan for Isabelle which I cast on for last October, and I would like her to wear it to her cousin's birthday in two weeks, so I am hurriedly trying to finish it up. So that's about it for now, must go and do some more knitting!

Jethro Jacket Progress

This is the progress of the Jethro Jacket so far. Do you know the only problem I had with the pattern so far was the last row of the band with the increases. I could not work out how to do them the way the pattern said and get the correct amount of stitches. After ripping the row out for about the 4th time I sat down and finally got it right. So on the left is the progress of about 3 hours knitting, or maybe less. The cabled pattern is sooo easy, so if you are thinking of knitting it up go right ahead. It only has 12 rows to the pattern, and I can memorise most of the pattern already. Let's hope that this knits up nice and quickly too.

Now onto another knitted item which I finished knitting last week which is a washcloth. I wont be using it on any dirty dishes, just dirty humans in the shower. This is made out of the cotton that Karyn sent me for Christmas. I love the colors, and it knits up quite quickly too. I have not used the other color yet, but next month I will knit that one up too. I did not use a pattern, just cast on 40 stitches and knit up what I wanted to. I think it turned out quite nice, and hopefully it will wash well too. Well that is all for today, off to do some housework whilst the kids are at school, and then to do more knitting!

A Day At The Farm

Yesterday we had a nice day at my aunt's farm in Beaufort, which is about 30 minutes out of Ballarat. She has lots of sheep and 2 cows. We headed up early in the day and stayed for lunch too, which was a nice BBQ cooked by my uncle. The kids were yabbying in the dam and caught about 8 big ones, but decided to let them go again as there wasnt really enough to make a meal of them. The dam is behind Isabelle in the picture where the light colored clay is. The gate Isabelle is on leads to the lambs pen, as they have just been weaned off their mother's this week. They just follow my uncle around the yard when he goes in, I think to see if they will be led back to to

their mothers. The photo at the top is the view from the front of my aunt's house. Their neighbours own farms too, so basically they are surrounded by gum trees which is nice. Lachlan played pool in the games room, and I am sure he could stay in there all day and play. Better than watching tv though. I didnt do any knitting whilst I was there, as I had been trying to do the increase row on the Jethro Jacket, and I could not work it out right. Last night when I had finished watching a tv show I decided to tackle it, and finally got it right. Now I am about 10 rows into the main pattern, which is quite easy. There are only 12 rows so I am sure by the middle of it I should have it memorised, I hope. I also finished a dishcloth, but will have to show you all tomorrow. Today is a public holiday, Labour Day, so that means everyone is home and not much knitting will be done. I hope you all have a lovely day too.

FO No 8

I have finally finished the Hooded Sweater. This is for my nephew who will be 4 in October, and I thought I might as well knit it up now instead of trying to rush it then, and possibly get a few presents for Christmas done then instead.

Pattern: Sirdar Baby Knits Book 316

Size: 3 to 4 years

Yarn: 8 ply pure new wool - 5 1/2 balls navy and 1 ball lime green

Started at the beginning of February

Finished: 7th March 2007

This is a fairly simple and easy knit to make, and if I had of only knit this it would have been finished much more quickly. Now onto the other projects lingering in the basket!

Jethro Jacket

Look at what I found at the Gisborne Market on Sunday. Alpaca yarn! I have never bought any real alpaca yarn before so this was a nice surprise. The owners even had photos of which alpaca it had come from, and they are so cute. I like this color which was the darkest one they had. The other 2 colors were a cream and a tan color. Their farm is in New Gisborne, so if I need anymore of it I am quite welcome to call and pay them a visit too. Since it is only a 20 minute drive, I will wait and see. Maybe some hats for Christmas time will be a good idea. I cannot believe how soft it is. Maybe a knitted pillow would be better and I could sleep on it!

I also started the Jethro Jacket today. I cast on just after lunch and this is how much progress I have made. I only knitted for about half an hour so it is not too bad. I am using a yarn that I bought at the yarn shop today. Bad me, breaking my yarn diet. I did not intend to find anything that I liked but then I saw the Heirloom Celtic yarn, which is a mix of alpaca and wool and it is really soft to knit with. I like the blend of the 3 different browns together, and luckily Paul loves the pattern too. It was his birthday on Sunday, so if I had of ordered the book and started before the New Year I could have given this to him as a birthday present. Maybe I can make it a belated present - I am sure he wont mind. I hope once I memorise the pattern that I can make a lot more progress on it. Luckily for me I only need to knit the smallest size. Tomorrow I should have an FO to show you all too. It is another jumper for my other nephew, and I quite like it although knitting the sleeve was a problem, but I think I was the problem. I could not figure out why the sleeve had less stitches, then realised after the 3rd time that I was casting on for the wrong size. How stupid of me. I think the tiredness from last week caught up with me, and having Lachlan home sick from school is tiring too. Tomorrow he is back to school so I should have a few hours of peace and be able to catch up with housework and other things, like knitting too!

More Books

Look at the goodies I found at Spotlight today. I decided to get out of the house for a while and go and look at some crafty things, not that I really need anything, but these were on sale. They are packets of ribbons, and you can get a lot of different colors. I chose red and pinks today, and the little packets of buttons were reduced too. They were in the scrapbooking part, but I am sure I can use them for other things. The buttons are light mauve and pink with white polka dots on them, and they are different sizes too, so maybe I can use them on baby knits.

When I arrived home I found these goodies in the letterbox. I have not looked through the Crafter's Companion yet, but I am going to as soon as I finish this post. I ordered this book via Prints Charming, which I found through Six and A Half Stitches. If you ordered before the 25th of February, they sent you a fat quarter as well. Look at mine, polka dots, one of my favourites too. I cant wait to sit down and read through it all, and I have seen it on a few other blogs and they all raved about how good it was, so I am in for a nice afternoon of reading about all the crafty people in there.



The Jaegar 28 book arrived too (and at least this time it was not folded in half and creased). There is a jacket in here called the Jethro Jacket, and I am dying to make it. I saw it on the Knitsmiths blog, via the Blue Blog which is listed on my sidebar, and the jacket was just gorgeous. I ordered my copy from Sunspun who have some really great books, fabrics and yarns too. It is easier for me to order it online than to drive there as trying to go down Bridge Road- Richmond is a nightmare with all the traffic, so if I can avoid it I will, and I suppose it does save me money too by not being tempted to buy anything else in the store too. Well I must go and catch up on some things that need doing, and make sure Isabelle is ready for the birthday party she is going to tomorrow at the swimming pool around the corner from us, and then we have Paul's birthday on Sunday, so I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Rowan Nature Book

The patterns in this book are made out of Luxury Cotton DK and Bambook Soft, so I assume that you could probably use another similar cotton if you wanted to. First up is Tendril which is a lovely cardigan using a climbing vine pattern with beads. Sorry about the blurry picture too, but I hope you can see the pattern on the front because it really is a beautiful pattern. The cardigan knits up to a size 22 (117cm bust) size.

Next up we have Glade which is a gorgeous cardigan. I think it has that romantic feel to it, and it drapes really well in the picture. This knits up to a size 18 (107cm) so the size is generous. It even has bobbles too, which some people do not like doing, but it is only on certain panels, so maybe it would not be too bad to knit.

Meadow. I think this is my favourite for some reason. I really love this one, and I can see myself making it if I can tackle the lacey pattern on the sleeves and front bands. It too knits up to a size 18 as well, and it looks as though you could wear it over a dress or jeans too, and depending on the color it could be quite striking.

Vista. This sweater looks quite nice, although I would probably not knit the belt to go with it, too much accentuation through the waist line is not a good thing for me. This one looks nice and simple and would probably not take too long to knit up. It too goes up to a size 22.

And lastly Woodland. This is the cardigan featured on the front cover, and I really really like it too. Sorry about the blurriness but I was in a hurry to take the photos. This knits up to an XL which is 112-117cm so it must have room to move in it. This would be such a relaxing thing to wear as I have a passion for ribbed sweaters and cardigans and have not knitted myself one as yet. So now the only thing is to decide what is next to knit up. My to knit list seems to be growing so maybe I can knit something for my sister from one of the books, and it will be in a tinier size and therefore I will be able to finish it much more quickly, and get satisfaction from knitting it too. Tomorrow I will have some more favourites to show you!

March - Autumn

Here are my new books:

Rowan 41

Rowan Coast

Rowan Nature and Rowan Classic Spirit.

They all have wonderful patterns in them, and I will show you a few of my favourites from each book, for the next four days. I am hoping that my spirit will lift today, as the last two days it feels as though the depression is returning. I hope not, as I really dont like feeling like that. Maybe it is just with all this free time to myself I am not used to the house being so quiet without Isabelle in it. My friend is popping over at 10 so maybe some good company will help lift my mood. See you all tomorrow with the patterns I like in the Nature book. Happy knitting!