A Model

My friend Corinne sent me a lovely photo of her daughter wearing the handknits that I had knitted for her a while ago. H looks so cute and adorable in what I made for her and apparently received lots of compliments too which always makes a knitter happy. Thanks Corinne for letting me share.
Today we also finally get to meet our friend's new daughter who is now 3 months old. I hope that the knits I made for her will still fit. Fingers crossed!
I also received my invite from Ravelry. I have sorted out how to add photos, and now I just need to sort out how to add friends. Anyone who can help me out, just let me know. I think my yarn stash can wait quite a while to be added until I have my finished projects up to date, and perhaps the unfinished ones too. It looks like a fantastic site, and I can see what all the excitement is about now.
Oh and it is grand final day here in Australia, so go the Cats. I really would like to see Geelong win since they havent for about 44 years. I am hoping the weather gets warmer as it seems we are having another cold snap. Yesterday Isabelle and I spent about 10 minutes watching the storm of rain and hailstones out the window. Last week it was 22 and beautiful, so I guess we never can tell what weather we are going to get. Well I must get my bum off the computer and get Isabelle ready for another birthday party which should be lots of fun for her, and Lachlan is having a friend stay over tonight, so it seems the house will be full of people today. I hope you all have a wonderful relaxing weekend.
Just letting you all know since I was too stupid to list it, my ravelry name is snooks!

Skirtsicle

This is the cute little skirt pattern Skirtsicle from magknits. The original pattern calls for Lily Sugar N Cream cotton yarn, but I used Cleckheaton Bamboo yarn, which is so smooth and knits up beautifully. It is only a new cotton, which I have never used before. It only used 2 and a half balls for this skirt in a girl's size 8. It comes to just above Isabelle's knees, so I should have knit it to 38 cms instead of 35 cms so she could wear it a bit longer. I started this on Saturday afternoon and finished it last night at about 10:00pm. I also knit it on a straight needle instead of a circular needle, as I didnt have the right length. I also cast off 8 sts instead of 7 sts, so it would line up correctly with the garter stitch pattern. All in all, I really loved knitting this skirt pattern, and it was quite easy too. Isabelle really liked seeing it grow and kept asking when it would be ready to wear. Today is going to be 22 degrees so she can try it out and we will see how it goes. So considering I have one more project off the needles, I am going to try and finish up the Ribby Cardi and Lachlan's ribbed jumper too. I'll see how much I can accomplish over the next week. Hope you all have fun knitting!

Sewing, Sewing, Sewing

Good morning everyone! Thank you for the lovely comments on dad's meat safe, I really loved reading them. Well the school holidays are upon us once again, and with friends to keep them occupied for a couple of hours I was able to whip up some little bags for Isabelle and her friend Olivia. I had bought some Hello Kitty fabric from Corrie a while back now, and thought it was great to use them for this project. I think they turned out quite cute, and the girls seemed to really like them, quickly filling them with their little books and knicks knacks to carry around. This project didnt take too long. I just cut out some squares, sewed them up and added the handled before sewing around the tops of the bags. I think it only took about 40 minutes all up.

I also attempted to make Isabelle a jacket. I had bought the pattern at my sister's Quilt In in July. I had purchased the flower fabric and only needed to buy some polar fleece for the lining. I found some at the yarn/fabric shop about 4 weeks ago and decided whilst Isabelle was sick with chickenpox (a nap on the couch) that I could start on it. Well 2 hours later and I had finished it, with the zipper installed and everything. I had to buy a dark purple zipper to install as they didnt have a light colored ones at my local store. She has been wearing it when it gets quite chilly and it is so thick and lovely and warm too, perhaps like having a big warm blanket wrapped around you. The pattern starts at 4-5 years and goes up to a size 12 I think. This is the 7-8 years size and fits her perfectly. I cant wait to make another one, but perhaps in a totally different fabric rather than floral, so she can wear it with more of her clothing. I have nearly finished the knitting on her skirt too, and the Bamboo cotton by Cleckheaton is just so beautiful to knit with. I am hoping I can finish it off today and then I will be able to show you all. Happy knitting and sewing!

Blog Shopping!

I love browsing the little shops that bloggers have where they sell their handmade goods. I have been doing a small bit of shopping lately, and found these wonderful goodies which I just love. I bought some coasters from Claudine's shop. They are just so cute and adorable, and I'm afraid I havent used them yet, afraid a drop of coffee will get spilt on them, so therefore they have been on my bedroom dresser where I can admire them. I love the little button card too, so cute. I also bought a wonderful knitting tote from Whizz Me too, and I love the fabrics that she used together. Just great for a knitting project to pop into the car when we go for a long drive, or for when I have to wait in the car for an extra 10 minutes to pick Isabelle up from school.

I have also been accomplishing a fair bit of knitting. I have one sleeve of the Ribby Cardi to complete. I am onto the front of Lachlan's jumper (which I havent posted about yet), and I started a skirt from Magknits for Isabelle out of some gorgeous Bamboo yarn which I found yesterday at the local knitting shop. I will try and get organized and take some WIP photos during the week. The kids are now on holidays for 2 weeks, so I will wait until they are playing outside. Hope you accomplish lots of knitting!

Downunder Dishies Tag!

I am on the Downunder Dishies team for the dishrag tag swap. I received my parcel this morning from Olwen, who sadly doesnt have a blog. Thank you Olwen for the wonderful balls of cotton which I will be able to use to make more great dishrags. I also received the beautiful dishrag that she knit up for me. I really like the pattern on it. I will have to get used to the idea to use it for dishes, as all the ones I have made are for using in the bathroom, and the kids love using them. I also received 2 chocolate bars, and Olwen must have known that I love flakes (one of my faves). That wont last long in this house, trust me. After the wonderful package, I then sat down and decided which ball of cotton to knit up, and a pattern. It took me about 2 hours to knit my dishcloth and I kept losing count of which row I was up to, so I had to pull out about 8 rows in total. Very frustrating! I finally finished it just before packing up the box with some lovely goodies (no photo), and took it to the post office. It is now on its way to Tasmania. I hope it arrives safely and quickly too. I had a lot of fun today participating in the dishrag tag, and it ran so smoothly too.

I also just had to show you what my dad made for me. The above 'meat safe' is what they are traditionally called, and I have wanted one forever. My dad suggested that instead of paying over $200.00 for one at the shop I could pay for the materials and he would build it for me. No plan, just a drawing that he drew on paper and put together himself. I absolutely love it and was so pleased when it finally arrived last night. My dad always wanted to be a carpenter and used to make drawers and bookshelves for their home when we were younger. It just goes to show that if you love doing something you do it to perfection or at least try to. I have already lined up another project for him, Isabelle's larger bookcase as the small one is now overflowing with books. He is going to get Lachlan to help him make it, and Lachlan loves doing woodwork so it will be great for him to learn too. Well that's it for now as I have some knitting to finish off, one more sleeve and the collar to go on the Ribby Cardi. I will then need to buy a zipper and hopefully I will have another FO to show you by the weekend. I am also waiting on some yarn to arrive for a jumper I am knitting up for Lachlan. Nothing fancy, just a bit of ribbing and zippered neckline. Pictures of that though when I start it. I hope you enjoy the rest of your week!

Sunday Gardening

Here is our wonderful vegie garden which Lachlan finished planting up yesterday. I promised Rebecca that I would post an update of our vegies, although 2 weeks ago this little plot was full of overgrown weeds. Isabelle and Lachlan pulled out every single weed, and then put in the plants. Yesterday we decided to buy a few more from the Big W garden section to finish it off.
Bottom Left - Silverbeet plants and tomato plants.
Bottom Right - Yellow capsicums and lebanese cucumbers.
Middle Section - Peas which have started to appear along with lots of carrots too.
Top Right - Garlic which has begun to grow very nicely. We seem to love garlic but dont eat it enough. I am hoping once I have some fresh garlic I can add it into more food. I dont know if anything was planted in the other corner, but I do know that Coco the kitten loves to dig it up all the time. Naughty Coco! We are hoping that not too many bugs eat all our plants as we dont use sprays on our vegies. I just cannot wait for the vegetables to start growing so we can have them in time for summer salads. How nice will that be. I think Lachlan did a marvellous job on the garden, and he has been watering it everyday too. I will try and show progress shots, perhaps on a Sunday from now on. I hope you all have a great weekend too!

Fall Knitty and a meme!

Oh the new Knitty is up. It has so many wonderful things in it too. A few of my favourites which I will definately need to print out this afternoon are

• Roam - a hoodie in variegated yarn, just gorgeous.
• Percy - a small bag to hold your mobile and few other little knicknacks
• Totally Autumn - a lacey pattern throw and I love the color of the yarn too
• Cherie Amour - A beautiful sweater which I would probably make for someone else
• Green Jeans - A cabled cardi and the color is beautiful too
• Cinderella - socks with a really pretty pattern
• Foliage - cabled hats which are really nice

I can see myself having a long list of things but it is good, you know why. I can go through my stash and use up some yarn. More on that later....

Now Sheila tagged me for the middle name meme. You need to describe yourself using the letters from your middle name, so here goes - Valerie. Now I have never really liked that name, although it was my grandmother's middle name too and I never had the chance to meet her. She passed away when my mum was 10 years of age, and was apparently a fabulous knitter who would sit by the kitchen fire and knit an adult sweater in a week. So here goes

V - Virgo (September 10) ooh and I thought that would be the hardest one to do

A - Auburn colored hair even though I have it colored and highlighted

L - Love my family and love to buy yarn too

E - Exercise I walk about 6 hours a week walking Isabelle to school and delivering catalogues

R - Red - I really love this color

I - Iced Coffee - I love this stuff even though I know it is no good for me

E- Excited to meet all the wonderful knitters and crafsters in blogland

So I am tagging the following people - Gillian, Jessica, Karin, Corrie, and Tiennie. I hope you all have fun answering it too and I cant wait to see what your middle names are. Wishing you all a great weekend too.

More Gifties

First up, thank you so much for all the lovely birthday wishes. I havent really had time to reply to your wonderful comments, so A BIG THANK YOU to everybody. Up above are the angel plates and the frame which Paul and the children brought me for my birthday. My mum actually bought the plate in the middle for me, which is probably my favourite one. I have them on the wall at the end of the kitchen table so we can all see them hanging there whilst we eat dinner.

I also received this lovely patchwork bag from my mum and dad. I had mentioned it one day whilst we were out shopping together that I really liked it. Of course I thought nothing more of it until it was my birthday and she handed me a large present. She also bought me some really lovely fat quarters too, which will have to be another post when I actually make something from them. I can fit quite a fair bit of knitting in this bag so it is perfect for me to put more than one project in there when I have somewhere to visit.

Oh and I received the knitting books that I had ordered from Fishpond too.

• No Sheep For You - A wonderful book. I really like the pattern in this one.
• Knitting Calendar 2008 - There are some really cute patterns in this too.
• Twisted Sisters Sock Book - Still deciding on this one. I dont think it is quite my cup of tea, so perhaps it will be a giveaway for someone who really wants it. Any takers please let me know.
• Bend The Rules Sewing - Fabulous book. It is such an easy book to understand with hints and tips everywhere, and beautiful pictures too.
• Knit 4 by Jo Sharp - I really love the cardigans knit out of the Alpaca Silk Georgette in this book. Simple but elegant. As for the sequined yarn patterns probably not my style, but still simple and effective.
  

Oh and I did manage some knitting whilst Isabelle was lying on the couch watching Charlie and Lola DVD's. I think we have watched all 5 DVD's about them now, but I dont mind them compared to some children's shows on tv. Can you guess what it is. It is the Ribby Cardi by Bonne Marie Burns of Chicknits. I have had this pattern for a long time, but decided to use up some Cotton Ease that I had bought some time ago and thought it would be perfect. It is knitting up so nicely. This is all the progress I have managed though since I started it on Monday afternoon. I am hoping to try and finish the back tonight, fingers crossed. I am sure that I can accomplish quite a bit over the next 2 days as Isabelle wont be going back to school until next week. Her spots are starting to heal. She only had one really nasty one which was in her hair and looked quite horrible. Her fever has now gone after having it for 4 days. She now has the nasty flu like cough that goes along with chickenpox so a few more days rest should make her good as new again. She will only have next week of school to go and then I am sure they are on school holidays. We are thinking of going to see the December Boys or Ratatouille at the movies, and possible catching up with some friends too. I hope you all have a wonderful week without any spots!

39 Today!

Today I turn 39 years of age. It doesnt really feel any older than when I turned 32, apart from the fact of being a lot rounder now than I was back then. I thought I would finally show a decent photo of myself. He he! The above picture of me was taken before I turned 1. The dress I was wearing was red velvet as were the boots. I think mum gave the dress to one of my aunties when they had a baby girl. I still remember the lion too, and I am sure that the eyes eventually fell off. Mum was only 17 when I was born so she was very very young. I really couldnt imagine myself having a baby at that age. I was too busy with schoolwork back then. Mum has the same photograph in color.

This photograph is from kindergarten which was at the back of a church in Essendon in 1972 I think. Again mum dressed me in red. I dont know why as it sort of clashed with my red hair and freckles. My face hasnt really changed much from that photo, although my hair is shorter now than back then. I still remember getting excited on the days that mum came to help to cut up the fruit for snacks, and give everyone a cup of milk. Funny the things that you remember from your childhood. I got some really lovely presents yesterday from mum and dad, and some lovely decorative plates from Isabelle, Lachlan and Paul.
At least I wont be lonely today, as Isabelle has been home since last Wednesday with chickenpox, poor baby. Two other children came down with on the same day from her class, as we bumped into one other little girl in her class at the doctor's office covered in spots too. Her teacher then informed me that another little boy in the class had them too. Isabelle is starting to feel like her old self today though, no more fevers or feeling like an icicle. I am hoping by the end of the week that her spots clear up and that she can return to school as she will soon be bored I'm sure. Well I am off to decide what Paul is going to cook me for dinner, nothing fancy as the kids wont eat it anyway. Oh and thank you all for the lovely comments on the socks too. They are going to be a present for my sister for Christmas as she loves long socks so these should keep her lovely and warm. Luckily we have the same size feet and I can just knit them until they fit me. Enjoy your day!

FO No. 24

Pattern: Gentleman's Fancy Socks from Knitting Vintage Socks by Nancy Bush
Yarn: Pansy by Katt - I used 1 skein and a little tiny bit of the other skein for the casting off of the toe on the second sock.
I finished knitting these last night, and photographed them just so you could all see that I do still knit adult items. I even cast on for another pair out of some more yarn that Katt dyed for me, but I will wait until I have some progress on those. I am so glad that these are now finished!

FO No. 22 & No. 23

The jacket is finally finished. I decided last night to seam up a few items and today I went and bought some charcoal colored buttons so I could finish the jacket off. I love the final product and the Cara Mia yarn is so soft and squishy too, I love it. The jacket is the size 1-2 years from the new Sublime book I mentioned a few posts back. It turned out so nicely that I am sure I will make some more if there are any baby boys born. It only used about 4 and a half balls so maybe even some leftover yarns from another project could be used too. I do hope that the weather doesnt get too hot next year so that Dylan can get some wear out of it, and I am hoping that the color suits him too. It should with his blue eyes.

Next up, this is a little cardigan that I knit a while ago and didnt take too long to do. The pattern is from a Lincraft book that my mum had and I really liked the pattern. All I need to do now is locate the little rosebud buttons that I bought for it to be put on and another project is finished. I used Wendy Peter Pan DK for this and some fluffy yarn from a $2 shop for the edgings. I think it turned out rather cute.

Next up a little hat which is from the Easy Knits book (the one with the teddy bear suit on the front cover). I used some Sublime yarn for this. All I need to do is decide whether to do the tassels that sit on each corner at the top or to leave it as is. What do you all think? This little pattern was so easy and only took a few hours to knit up.

Oh and finally some scarves that I knit up out of some knitwise yarn that I discovered at the supermarket. The chocolate brown one was meant to be for me but I only had 3 balls so it turned out too short, but Isabelle instantly claimed it and it looks quite cute on her. I then went and bought 5 balls of the lighter brown color and it was just the right amount. This yarn is so nice and not itchy or scratchy. It has little bumps of different colors in it too, and is quite snuggly. Great for scarves. Well I think I have shown you all the up to date knitting projects and I am off to try and finish that sock. I know I said I would finish it off, but it hasnt been touched since last week. We had Father's Day yesterday, so Happy Father's Day to all you dad's out there. We had a BBQ at our house, and the weather was so nice. All of this nice weather is so inspiring to get outside and do things too. Lachlan has been sick this last week too, so today he finally returned to school, and now Paul is home sick with the flu. He felt awful last Thursday and by Saturday could not go to work as he was so stuffy, and hot and cold with the sweats. I hope he feels better soon. Oh and a big thank you for all your lovely comments about my projects. I really do appreciate them and love reading them too, even if it is only a small comment. It just feels like hearing from a close friend and makes my day!