And while I am cathcing up......A WIP

This is a shawl I have been working on for myelf. It's something I have been picking up at night after the kiddies are in bed and knitting a row or two.

This will only be a small shawl, and will be worn as a scarf.

And while I was neglecting this space.....

I went to see PINK!!!

WOW was she AWESOME. I was just blown away by her.

This concert was wort every cent of the $120ish, and would have gone back the next night given the chance (and availability of $$$)

Baking with a 2 year old

Well, I took these a month or so ago with the intention of blogging my cooking adventures with CJ..........good to see I got around to it finally LOL.

They were sooooooooooo yummy!!!

Long time.........no blog

so here are some FO's

WIP Wednesday

FO Friday

Please excuse my slackness when it comes to posting- life is getting back to it's usual state of hectic! Uni has started back for the year, there is always something to tidy up/wash/put away/tend to, and I use my 'spare' (hahahaha) time to knit rather than blog!

So......what have I been up to? Swaps, swaps and more swaps!

Below are some sneak peeks of two magic yarn balls that I have created for swaps in 2 groups over at Ravelry.

They contain various bits and pieces wound into the ball so the knitter can discover them as they work through the yarn- so much fun.

This first one is already on it's way to it's new owner, and the purple one is all packaged up and ready to leave my hot lil hands on the 16th march- the first officail post day for this swap!

Not everything I have been creating is set to leave this household.

I have been on a woolly knitting mission for my almost 2 year old daughter. She is desperate need of nappy woollies so the needles have been frantically knitting shorties out of some of the most gorgeous wool ever!

This first pair is made from Spotlight basics Dashing for the waistband and cuffs, and some glorious Organic Merino 8ply/DK that was gifted to me in a swap over at Ravelry.

This pretty pair are knitted from Fibreworks 18 micron merino 8ply/DK and is soooo silky sooft to touch. The knitted fabric has a beautiful drape to it and the yarn is just amazing to knit with.

It feel so lovely in the hands.

OOh, and a quick re-visit- I forgot to post a FO pic of the Cadence Rose Sundress I test knit for a Rav member! Here she is:

This became a top for my 4 year old as she fell in love with it and asked if she could have it instead of her baby sister. It suits her beautifully

I have a lot more FO's to share, but might just leave them til next Friday :-)

Back at the Dyepot again

I got the dye pot out the other afternoon to dye some Organic Merino for some 8ply longies or capris for CJ.

I thought I would post the details here rather than clog the boards over at Ravelry.

Firts up, I soaked the skeined yarn in a water/vinegar mix for a few hours. I normally do this 50/50 and soak for 1 hour, but I was low on vinegar so soaked longer.

Then came the measurements/quantities. I used Queens food colouring for this, so had to mix the colours.

All the colours I mixed were made from this colour chart from Queens, except 1 that I made up myself.

For this dye up, one part of colour was 0.2mL measured in a medicine dropper, and once mixed, each colour was mixed with half a cup of water to get the intensity I achieved (this was just a guestimate for strength/intensity- more water will create lighter shades, less water will create darker shades).

For the lighter of the 2 purples (which may be hard to see) I mixed 5 parts Rose Pink with 1/2 part blue (so 1ml Rose Pink: 0.1mL Blue).

I used one portion of colour (the half cup) per colour repeat. ie- each green section was half a cup of colour, each purple half a cup of colour.

To paint the skein, I placed a towell down on the kitchen bench, and covered it in lengths of cling wrap wide enough, and long enough to wrap around the yarn.

I then laced my skeined yarn on the cling wrap in a long straight line, siilar to the one below:

Starting at one end, I slowly poured the colour on and squashed it down with a potato masher to ensure it went all the way though and absorbed into every strand, I then added the nect colour a few cm from the first and squashed it agin until the 2 colours just met. I continued along the length of the skein in no particular order until thw hole thing was coloured as above.

I used tea towells to mop up any excess liquid pressing them lightly along the skein, the warapped the yarn securly in the cling wrap.

I set some water boiling on the stove with a steamer insert for the yarn to sit in, covered, and allowed the yarn to gently steam for about 30-40mins- this may have been overkill, but it was long enough to set all the colour.

After cooling for a while, I rinsed the yarn in warm water (same temp as the yarn at this stage) to ensure there was no excess colour to run/bleed. I then chose to soak the yarn in a lanolin wash to reinvigorate the fibre and help plump it up a bit again.

After the soak I drained the excess water, and rolled the skein in towell to remove futher water,
then hung it up to dry for a few days. Drying time will vary, but being cool and rainy here I had to hang mine in the garage so it took longer than it would have on a mild summers day outdoors.

The above pic is the yarn when almost dry. I will post a photo when I have either reskeined it for storage, or balled it up to show the colour distribution.

Hopefuly this all makes sense and will help someone attemting to dye ool for the first time.

Just be aware that different wools take up the colour differently and can result in variances of vibrancy.

Secret Knitty Business

So I am involved in a kids swap in one of the groups on Ravelry

where each of us involved knitted small items to send to

the children of another member.

I organised all the partners and sent out deatils to everyone

that included such things a favourtite colours,

head circumference, etc.

I got to knit for 2 little boys, and to the right are snippets of what

I have been working on, bar 1 item still being completed.

Obviously, as they have not been sent I cannot

post full pictures........that would ruin the surprise!

What's on the Needles? WIP Wednesday

I am currently test knitting a gorgeous dress for a fellow Ravelry member.
It is a lovely pattern to knit and I am really happy with my progress so far.
Hopefully I will get this finished over the next couple of days.
The pattern will be available on Ravelry sometime in January 2009.

Another Christmas Gift completed

And just in the nick of time too!!! This is an applique T-shirt for my baby niece.

My family is having Christmas this coming Saturday (20th), so I need to have all gifts for my side completed and wrapped by then.

This is simple a Bonds T-shirt that I picked up fo $7, and added an appliue bird with button eye. I simply stitched around the wing, and blanket stitched around the whole bird in cotton thread I had here for the sewing machine.

I know it will fit her as my sister chose the size, I just hope they like the little birdy. It took me a couple hours all up LOL

Something for me

Yep, so not the best pics ever as I took them myself, but here is a shrug I made myself based on the stitch pattern for the Dream Swatch from THIS post.

All in all I think it turned out OK, I like it, just not sure it suits me???

Ineed to pick up some stitches and add ribbing to it around the neckline/body opening, but that can wait til after the madness of Christmas crafting has passed.

K has decided that she would like one, but for now is content to walk around the house wearing mummy's.

I think both girls could do with shrugs to go with the new party dresses they are getting for Christmas. K will need hot pink, CJ will need a red one. Might do those next week if I get time, otherwise it can wait til I have the motivation.

Flickr Favourites- Christmas

....was browsing this morning and decided to compile some pics off flickr that show some of my fave Christmas things.

I love gingerbread men, stockings, decorations, lights, candycanes, the whole Santa fantasy, and snow globes. Being in Australia, I will probably never experience a White Christmas, so snow globes help me imagine what it might be like.
The last pic in the mosaic is representative of an Aussie Christmas.

Getting into the spirit

Just a quick little background update to suit the season.
I am in need of a blog makeover and found this gorgeous Christmas background over at The Cutest Blog on the Block
I'll be browsing there after the new year I think and having a blog face lift!

Dolls, dolls, dolls

So this is another attempt at Christmas crafting- a doll each for my 2 girls, and baby niece Rachel.

I spent a good deal of time looking for inspiration, and found it HERE in an angel doll, and over at pint's palette in all those gorgeous pixie dolls. I combined elements I liked about each and cut them out.

The hardest part has been selecting the fabrics from my stash to use. The middle pic is one combination I have decided upon. Each doll will use different fabric combinations, and be adorned with buttons, yo yos and probably some knit or crochet flowers in their hair etc.

I have even cut out the felt for the faces and hands, and now need to cut each piece of fabric, do any applique and embroidery I want to do on the dresses and faces, then pin and sew them all together before stuffing.

Easy. Right??? Oh, I forgot to mention, I have NEVER made a doll before, not even a simple softie! Fingers crossed.....

Christmas Crafting

This year I made the choice to give handmade gifts to the family and close friends in an effort to cut back on expenses, and to be able to give something truly unique to suit each person/personality. Here are some of the gifts so far:

1. A knitted, felted, and appliqued bag for Mum.

This was my first ever attempt at applique and blanket stitch. This was based on a pattern by

Nat of Woolybutts, (bamansmum over at Ravelry).

2. A head scarf for my youngest SIL made from a Hemp/Wool blend purchased from
The Yarn Cafe in the Apricot Peach colourway.
The pattern is Dream Swatch (pdf. link) by Wendy Bernard of Knit and Tonic

3. Some little fish washers for the neices and nephew. These were made from Lion brand cotton solids, and from Moda Vera "Cupcake"
The pattern is Wishy Washy Fishy Tawashi by Rhonda White.

So there is part of my Holidays at Home. Join in the fun of sharing, or just browse to see what others are up to.