tikki

a wrap

2012-01-19T21:21:00.000+11:00

Last night I was cruising through the back blocks of my blog in the vain hope that I'd blogged the recipe for peach sorbet from last summer. I hadn't. I had blogged some lovely beetroot relish and my very famous zucchini yoghurt carrot cake, but no peach sorbet.

I did, however, stumble across this post. A wrap up of what I'd knit in 2010 and my PLANS for what I was going to knit in 2011. Plans, I thought! I had plans! Who would have thought! Obviously, I had forgotten completely about said plans, which is pretty understandable given that I am the type of person who deliberately avoids anything approaching routine or a plan. Just ask DK. If he ever asks me what time I'll be back, or what time will I be going to the shop or whatever, I always answer, "Time? You know I don't work on time." He probably finds that pretty frustrating, hey.

Anyway, it was pretty fun to look back on and compare my 2010 to 2011. Apparently I knit less last year than I did in 2010. 17,788 yards knit last far in comparison with 18, 411 yards from 2010. I had hoped to knit 20,000 yards in 2011 but not to be.

My tally for projects in 2011 was a staggering 73!
14 dishcloths
13 cardigans
3 jumpers
6 vests
2 skirts
1 blanket
1 pot holder
2 dolls
16 items of dolls' clothing
11 hats
1 pair of socks
1 pair of leg warmers.

What was most interesting from this post was my knit list for 2011. It was, perhaps a little optimistic for one who doesn't do plans. You can probably guess how I went, but hey, let's assess it properly.

Here's the list:

so with that in mind my to knit list for 2011 is going to be a little indulgent, a little selfish and a little bit about ME!

(well, as much as knitting from stash will allow it [yes, yes, I'm pretending that I'm attempting to knit from stash again this year... the joke's on me..yes, I know])

hmm, so what would I like to knit for ME? Browsing my Rav queue elicits these suggestions:

1. Whisper Cardigan by Hannah Fettig.
I've wanted to knit this cardigan EVER since it came out. I even have the yarn to do so, some lovely Knittery Merino Lace.... it's just the prospect of balling over 1000 yards of lace weight yarn is a little daunting!!!
FAIL! I did put the yarn in a project bag ready to be balled...but I'm guessing that didn't really count.

2. Kerrera by Gudrun Johnston
Another Cardigan I've had in my queue forever and also have the yarn for. I'm going to knit this in WOOLganics worsted. Just have to decide on the colour; Gondwana or Sangha. Hmm, perhaps the Gondwana and then I could use the Sangha for Gudrun's Shaldar
FAIL! Did not even come close to knitting this. I do still love it, though!

3. a new winter hat, something slouchy and comfy. maybe Rose Red or ripely.
SUCCESS!!! I actually knit myself two winter hats... go me!!!

I knit meret

as well another one I'm still yet to share photos of.

4. some mitts, not really sure on contenders yet.
Any suggestions?
FAIL! I did start some Elizabeth Zimmermann mitts in some noro but admittedly they were for Lily, and they never got finished.

5. A little red cardigan; possibly lacy suitable for layering as well as over sundresses. maybe liesl
Ohh ohh, I nearly said a FAIL! BUT I DID knit a little red cardie, just not the liesl... but rather one of my own design... and one I haven't blogged yet either.

on the not so selfish front to the list needs to be added:

6. a school cardigan for Lily (Can't stand those horrible fading navy windcheater things that pass for school wear) Just need to find some navy organic yarn?? any suggestions??
Done!

7. A couple of skirt designs I'm already itching to get started on.
Partly done! I did knit two skirts, but both are the same design. I still have to knit the prototype for the second one.

8. A couple of tops that ditto, I want to whip into shape.
Honestly, I'm now not sure what these were..so I don't know whether I did knit them or not! perhaps not!

9. Design my first adult garment. I have two contenders here.
Yes! Success...but this garment (which is now in testing) was neither of the two contenders I was thinking at the time. Still working on those.

10. A beautiful pair of embellished longies with chart from watermellish for Toby. His last pair of longs probably!
FAIL! And truth be told, I doubt I'll knit another pair of longies until we have grandkids (OMG the thought!!) I suspect Toby might be a bit old for longies now... might have to embellish a jumper with that beautiful design I was considering.

and that is it.

Most of all, Im pretty proud of the fact that I published 19 new patterns in 2011. WOW!
That's actually more patterns published last year than I'd previously published in total!

So what did you achieve in 2011?
Did you get your knit list done?

Is it just crazy to have such a list?
What's on yours for 2012?

dishcloth domination

2012-01-17T23:15:00.002+11:00

I have this plan for 2012, it's not really a resolution but more a plan to get more people knitting.

More people knitting is always a good thing, I think. Knitting makes people calmer and happier and less likely to ~~commit~~ stab other objects, that may or may not be human. Well, that's what it does for me anyway.

So yep, that's my aim...more people knitting.
How am I going to do this?
Well, I have a little secret weapon in my arsenal. A little weapon that has proved successful so far.

That weapon is the humble knitted dishcloth.

Have you ever washed your dishes with a knitted cotton dishcloth?

They are the bomb! And seriously once you've been there, you won't go back.

I've started the last two years with a bit of a dish cloth knitting blitz.

Last year I gave a couple to my older sister. She love love loved them. And guess what? She's now knitting them and passing them on to her friends. I knit them regularly for my other sister. She's too lazy to knit her own. Well, she's not really. She just knows I will knit them for her.

I gave one to a friend the other day, and guess what she love love loves them. I suspect she will knit herself some. I've given one to my MIL as well. The seeds are being planted...

So this got me thinking. Dishcloth domination.

Get.People.Knitting.Through.Dishclothes.

I think most people who don't knit or can knit a wee bit, would look at a dishcloth and say, "I could knit that." And they could! These things whip up in such a short time, you know.

So my plan is to gift two dishcloths per month for 2012 to susceptible targets.

I have my non-knitting sister in my sights next. She has coveted the dishcloths (which were really facecloths) that I knit my Mum. I'm going to send her a couple...but I'm going to include a ball of cotton with them and the pattern. Subtle. She will be putty in my hand.

You know how the rest goes from there.... knit a few dishcloths then perhaps decide you want to try something bigger.... and then before you know it, you're a knitter. woot!

So that's my plan. Do you want to join me in my dishcloth domination?
Please do!! It will be fun. We can share our conquests.

Or perhaps as a non-knitter or beginner knitter you're feeling the need to knit a dishcloth?
Well, here's my pattern of choice. Grandmother's Favourite

My favorite yarn for knitting dishcloths is Lily Sugar and Cream, but any hardy 100% cotton will do the trick. I'm pretty sure I've seen something at Spotlight, but if not you can buy it online at yarn over

P.S. sorry about the lack of recent blog love.

our favourite boy turns three

2011-11-16T16:48:00.001+11:00

The weekend just gone we celebrated a very special birthday, Toby's third birthday!
And what better way to celebrate than to meet up with some cousins and go to the Werribee Open Range Zoo.

Toby is just a wee bit animal obsessed; that and trains are his constant thing, so a day out at the Werribee Zoo is like Nirvana for this little lad. So many animals to see. Our favourites for the day were the lions,

the zebras,

and the giraffes.

Toby and Lily did so love the hippos, but not the real ones so much as the crazy concrete ones that squirt water out of their bums! I think they spent more time there in their undies playing in the water spray than anywhere else!

Here's a photo of the exact moment the milo boy turned three. It's easy to take exact time photos when your birth time is 11:52am. He's pretty pleased with himself as you can see. Just quietly, I'm pretty pleased with him too. He's a charming, gorgeous, extremely funny, sweet little lad who tells me daily "I love Mummy and Daddy and Lil. But best of all I love my family."

The best thing about spending your birthday with your cousins is getting to hang out with Sage, who is just 3 months younger than Toby. These two are mischief together, for sure. Can you tell?

And of course, the obligatory blowing out the candle shot. This was one very big long and forceful blow for the little boy, but he got all the candles out. Too funny! It's a very serious business blowing out your candles!

I guess he's really no longer my baby now, hey!

new pattern: ziggidy doo

2011-11-15T14:47:00.001+11:00

A new pattern for the Spring months here, and the Autumnal months in the Northern hemisphere.

This little pattern is quite a bit later to be released than I anticipated. Who would have thought that the start of the fourth term of the school year would be so out of control! I started the term looking forward to a chance to catch up on all things knitting related after spending the school term break sick and then away. you know, I'm still waiting for that chance to catch up now, how many weeks in? I have no idea how many weeks in we are now, four maybe, quite possibly five.

Anyway, I digress...so with loads of crazy school related and other general stuff going on, this wee pattern was a bit later in being added to the zig-zag ebook. You know, I guess that's all part of the indie designing-Stay-At-Home-Mummy juggling school kid, full-time at home toddler and a business of sorts gig. I think the schedules we (ok, maybe that's I) set ourselves are probably a lot tighter than they would be if we were publishing in a magazine or book. But you know what, Ysolda Teague's new book took a lot longer to get out than she expected, so I figure I'm in good company here!

So this skirt, hey.

It's knit seamless from the top down and has a super dooper perfectly fitting to your size waistband, that covers the range from 19-25" (or sizes 9months to girls size 12).

From there it's divided into three sizings; small, medium and large. Hidden increases throughout the skirt create a simple A-line shape.

The pattern also includes instructions for optional short row shaping to suit those little sticky out tums and bums that some toddlers have. They're also perfect for those in nappies, particularly cloth bums.

Lily's skirt is knit in MonsterKnits Blue Face Leicester DK, colourway 'Sock Monkey'.
Unfortunately, Kris is no longer dyeing yarn but there are some suggestions for other great yarns to use in the pattern.

Lily's skirt is a size 4 waist, knit to a size 6 length.

You can purchase the pattern via my Ravelry store; as part of the zig-zag ebook or just by itself.

Right now I'm working on the adult version of this skirt for me. Wanna see a sneak peak???

so when last I pimped..

2011-11-01T15:09:00.000+11:00

it was October.
and I was giving the old Blogtober thing a go.
Did you participate? How did you go?
If you went better than I did you deserve a big HIP HIP HOORAY!.
I managed six posts for Blogtober... ahum, yep, a wee bit crap really!

Oh well, November is another month, one that looms a wee bit less crazy than October. Today I'm feeling a bit of a weight lifted from my shoulder as I managed to get through two big outside imposed deadlines this week. A couple of things that have been stressing me out just a wee bit... but all good now, as that is all behind us for the year!

so how about another pattern pimp?

Last post I shared one of the zig-zag patterns, so while we're on that train let's chug-a-lug along and meet a few more of the zig-zag patterns.

These, I think are the funnest of the zig-zag patterns.
They're zeg warmers. What else would you call them, hey?

Really quick to knit and super fun to wear. The pattern is written for a dk/8ply weight yarn, but it has included in it the finished sizes if you decided to sub with other different weight yarns; 5ply/sport, 10ply/worsted and aran/heavy worsted weight.

Sizing ranges from baby to large adult, so you could make a pair for all the Flashdancing floosies in your house if you wanted.

These ones are knit in madelinetosh tosh merino dk, a gorgeous single ply dk weight yarn that I am a wee bit smitten with now.

Lily's are the XS size knit to a wee bit longer than child length.

The pattern also has a number of links to tutorials and videos to learn a few new skills that make these little zeg-warmers look very professsionally finished! Gotta love that!

Just like the ziggy pattern, you can purchase zeg warmers either individually from my pattern store for a mere $3 or as part of the zig-zag ebook that will contain 5 patterns for $16. (just between you and me, the last pattern which is long overdue will be released this week)

as you were ;)

pimping ziggy

2011-10-21T14:33:00.001+11:00

so I'm back on the pimping bandwagon today.

I think I'll preface this post by saying that this design might just be my most favourite thing I've knitted all year. That's a pretty big call, and particularly considering that this is a boy knit but ...I'm going to put it out there.

This is ziggy, a wee pattern that had me thinking outside the square I live in, quite literally.

I so love this hoodie, not just because Toby has worn it to death this winter, but because visually it just really appeals to me. Ask any kids' knitwear designer and they will tell you the struggles of designing for boys, trying to find a new angle or something slightly different without it being too out there. Despite lots of knitters asking for more boys' patterns, we do tend to knit quite conservatively for our boys.

I love that while this is a hoodie, it's got something else going on with it. I love the zig-zag stitch pattern on the front and the way it works up onto the hood. I love the shape and fit of the hood. It was well worth the ripping and reknitting and ripping and reknitting! And I particularly loved the rolled hems. I had sort of envisaged sewn hemlines but ~~I couldn't be bothered sewing them down~~ I decided I preferred them rolled.

One of the most exciting things about this pattern though is that while it looks super cute on my little two-year-old Toby, it looks absolutely awesome on the boys at the bigger end of the age scale. You have no idea how pumped I was when my big knit testers started finishing these up. Have a peep at the projects on Rav. You know, I even have the need to knit DK a man-sized version!

I am really proud of this design, simply because it is a good boys' pattern. Something a little bit out of the box. It will probably never be as successful as milo, but I don't care! I love it just the same!

I do have a little bit of a secret in relation to this pattern though.
The first version and the alternate version in the pattern looked like this;

What you actually can't tell is that the first garment was knit top-down and the second one, the hoodie was knit bottom-up.

My preference for kids' knit is top down because it's easier to custom knit length, try it on and even add length later, hence the prototype was knit that way. But when I came to write up the pattern, I realised it was just going to be so long and convoluted to write it up that way, particularly having to incorporate the changes in the zig-zag stitch pattern into every raglan increase across the size range. This is a pretty lengthy and detailed pattern as it is, without that. The option was there to use instructions like, "Work into existing pattern" but.. that's not my style and those who knit my patterns are used to me detailing each step of the way thoroughly, so that wouldn't really be fair to them.

I was a wee bit stressing over it when my friend Shannon suggested I go bottom-up. Simple. Sensible. Pure Genius. That's Shannon. So that's what I went for.

It was fun thinking outside my normal design box and designing something bottom up. I'm so glad I did it. It's opened up a whole other avenue of thinking in terms of design for me, which has been great. Who knows where I'll head next with it?

So if you're in the market for a kids' jumper, ziggy could be just the one you need.

It's sized from 6months to size 12 (17 - 30" chest).

It is very much a modern take on the classic hoodie/henley. The pattern contains instructions for knitting either the henley style tab front and collar, or the hood. The hood borrows construction techniques from sock knitting to create a fun little hood that fits perfectly.

It is a seamless construction and knit bottom up. The only special techniques required are circular knitting, simple cable knitting (this can be done without a cable needle), a small amount of kitchener stitch and picking up stitches.

You can purchase ziggy either as an individual pattern for $AUD6, or as part of an ebook containing four other patterns.

Both are available for purchase via my Ravelry store.

blogtoberfest: er...umm. day.....20?

2011-10-20T14:03:00.002+11:00

So we can establish that as predicted, I am pretty crap at posting every day in the blogtober thing. Not to worry!
Maybe I should try again for November?

Whence last I was home and blogging I did so promise a pattern pimp fest, as my sister Megsie reminded so nicely, "What happened to the pattern pimpest?"
Yes, well...good intentions and all that.

It's actually been so long since I blogged regularly that there are patterns that I released way back in June that I haven't blogged about. (I just looked that up, and to be honest I thought it was much longer ago than that!)

Today's pattern pimp is for a garment I finished and blogged about way back in March.

THE SCHOOL CARDIE!

Well, after a rigorous testing process this pattern was released in June.

I must say it has served us well this year. I have another one on the needles that I had intended for my niece Tully, but she's changed school and blue is now not the colour for her. I think I'll save it for next year to make another for Lily with longer sleeves, because she won't grow widthwise!

My testers tested this in different colours, like maroon and red, and I have to say I so love it in those tones. I can almost see me knitting myself a red one. Oh for the time to do so!!!
I think this is a cardigan that definitely should not be just for school!

Lily's worn this all through the year and it looked equally cute with her summer dress and her winter kilt.

I bought an electric fabric de-piller and that has been awesome for tidying up any pills to keep it looking its best. Apart from that a quick wash in the machine has kept it going. And at almost the end of her first year of school, I have to say it's in much better nick and far brighter than the faded windcheaters many of her class mates wear.

So if you feel so inclined to knit your little scholar a school cardie, the pattern is available in my Ravelry pattern store for $AUD6.

It's seamless, topdown and fits chest sizes from 21" to 31".
The ribbed pattern is worked into the raglan shaping and the pattern contains very explicit details on how this is done. No second guessing required!

My challenge for next winter is to knit her a lovely blue school hoodie; something that will look pretty good with her kilt AND can be handed down to Toby!

blogtoberfest: day 4

2011-10-04T21:17:00.000+11:00

King of the Playground

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:wye river

blogtoberfest: day 3

2011-10-03T19:02:00.000+11:00

You know, it's been so long since I've been regularly blogging that there is so much crafty goodness I haven't blogged. This becomes apparent when I mention to my sister Megsie from over atpint something I've made and because I haven't blogged it, she doesn't know what I'm talking about.

We're away on hols at the moment. Today was the mad rush of packing last minute things into the car and the attempt to get away on time,we never manage to do this. We're always later than we intend. oh well.

One of the most important last minute things to pack is Lily's favourite dolly Evie. I love that this is Lily's favourite dolls and she HAS TO sleep with her every night.

I made Evie a month or so ago for Lily. She is made from the Sally the Eco Fairy pattern on knitty (you can easily find it on Ravelry or by googling - sorry about the lack of a link) with a few very minor mods.

Lily saw this dolly knitted up on Rav and wanted one for herself. I always meant to knit to knit this dolly for her, it's been in my queue on Ravelry forever. So when she asked one I figured I best do it, she is after all six now! And I just really needed a change, something different to knit. Something that wasn't an item of clothing. you know how it gets.

Gosh, toy knitting is fun though! Tiny thin little limbs and pieces of clothing, oh so very cute! I have to admit I didn't enjoy sewing her limbs and head on too much though! I'm hoping to make another of these dollies but next time, she'll be completely seamless.

Our little Evie is an Eco girl too.
Her body is made from a ball of Sublime Organic cotton.
Her dress from WOOLganic Organic Knitters Merino Yarn. (and it's a modified dolly rainbow dress too)
Her hair is The Sanguine Gryphon FreeRange 8ply. I attached it as per instructions for Waldorf style dolls.
Her eyes and knickers are Rowan PureLife Organic DK wool.

She is very much loved,and is right now cuddled up and snoozing away with this big girl who refused to change out of her Pippi costume, or wash her hair the whole weekend! she's a bit cute as redhead,hey?

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Wye River

blogtoberfest: day 2

2011-10-02T18:57:00.000+11:00

A random photo for a lazy day.

A lazy day in our neighborhood, roaming through the nature reserve looking for Spring Wildflowers, making daisy chains and avoiding swooping plovers.

DK is pretending he's not nursing a hangover from yesterday's bloody football ho-hum event.

Tonight it's time to pack and prepare to escape our seaside town for a few days. We're off to another one nestled between the mountains and the sea...one with a jumping pillow.

the random photo is another recent mummy-made dress-up for Lily. This one was for her Arts Celebration Night. The theme was sea creatures, so Lily asked if I could make her a jellyfish costume.

so I did.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

perhaps rather stupidly....

2011-10-01T21:55:00.002+10:00

I've decided to be a participant in Blogtoberfest again this year.
Don't get me wrong, I don't think it's stupid to be involved in Blogtoberfest at all. It's super dooper fun good idea.
It might be a little stupid for me though, not just because my blog mojo has vanised, but we're going camping next week...possibly somewhere where there is no internet connection.
that's going to make blogging every day just a wee bit tricky, hey..

Let the pattern pimpfest begin!

2011-09-30T15:01:00.003+10:00

It would be no surprise to anyone really, to hear that I seem to have misplaced my blogging mojo. I suspect the cleaning fairy took it. I wish she'd bring it back, I'd much rather write a blog post than dust the architraves.

I suspect she took it because I've been flat out with pattern development of late (between you and me, just a little bit too nutso flat out) and she took it to punish me for my lack of dusting around the house. She's not one of those nice fairies, this chickadee. She tends to hold grudges if certain household chores aren't done. I thought she was supposed to do them if I don't but my cleaning fairy is a bit of a stubborn little beast and thinks it's her job to actually punish me.

I still haven't dusted the architraves, but I am going to attempt to regain my blog mojo. And what better way than a pattern pimpfest, because seriously with all this pattern development going on, there are quite a few patterns that have yet to be blogged..... it's a little embarrassing really. So where to start?

How about since we're doing a bit of blog Spring-cleaning, we start with a pattern for Spring.

My most recent pattern release is Jane.

I love Jane. I love her simplicity. I love her clean lines. I love how easy and quick she is to knit. I love that she took under 200g to knit a size 6. aha.

The construction of Jane is quite unusual. I call her a raglan hybrid. I can honestly say I've never seen a pattern constructed in the same manner as this. That of course, doesn't mean there isn't one out there, though. It's big wide pattern world out there!

I knew when I was knitting the prototype exactly the sort of look I wanted but it took me a few tries to capture it exactly. I knit and ripped, and knit and ripped, each time trying something slightly different until I got it just right.

For me as a designer, *cough cough* (yes, I do find that funny!) the tinkering is an important process. I like to play around with different elements of construction, I always have. I think I always will, because it can make the simplest look totally new and different.

And I think in the case of Jane, that's what works so well for this pattern. It's a simple style, but the construction process makes it an interesting knit. The combination of simplicity and newness, always works in my opinion.

So the all important specs on Jane:

She's sized from 12months to 12 years, so a 19 to 30" chest range. I did consider grading this in smaller sizes, but I'm not so sure about open cardies on wee little ones. A bit too easy for them to shrug off?

It's written for 8ply/dk weight yarn that knits up at a tension of 22 stitches and 28 rows in stocking stitch on 4mm needles. The best yarn for Jane is one that has a lovely drape, a lighter DK weight or even a superwash works well.

The yarn I knit Lily's in is The Sanguine Gryphon FreeRange. This is a gorgeous organic yarn from the US which both drapes and wears beautifully. Unfortunately, it is being discontinued.

As with all my patterns, it is completely seamless. The most difficult technique required is picking up stitches.

You can wear the cardie as is, open or thread a ribbon through the eyelets to secure it.

Like all my patterns it's available for purchase through my Ravelry store. You don't need to be a member to pop over and purchase there.

At $6 for the pattern, I'm sure this is a pattern you will return to again and again for quick Spring knits.
I know I will.

I enjoyed this pattern development so much, I'm actually working on a pattern for adult sizes, a Lady Jane or Mrs Jane. I am very very close to being finished and hopefully will be done on it by the end of the weekend. So all going well, pics next week.

for $6AUD.

So what do you think?

Pippi Longstocking

2011-09-06T20:58:00.001+10:00

I love a good literary dress-up day, no dress-up excites me more than one that is book themed. So I was pretty stoked to hear that Lily's school would be having a dress-up day to celebrate Book Week, and the children were encouraged to come dressed as their favourite book character.

I was even more pleased that Lily didn't choose a fairy character or one of the many princesses that have been Disneyified. No, she chose a classic book character. Pippi Longstocking.

Pippi Longstocking is one of our absolute favourite books to read. Our copy of Pippi Longstocking is the version that contains illustrations by Lauren Child. While the stories are still the same crazy and hilarious adventures, Pippi takes on a whole new look with Lauren Child's influence. Gone is the patched dress and daggy hat. While the iconic striped socks are retained, our Pippi has a preference for floral dresses.

With this in mind we set about creating the perfect Pippi.

And I think we got it pretty right!

I love this Pippi outfit! It's so much fun and has lots of impact for not a lot of effort.

When I took Lily to school so many people thought we must have got up so early to get this all done. nope. Easiest hairstyle I've done all year.

All you need is 6 pipe cleaners, (or chenille sticks as I think they're called now), 4 elastic bands, 2 ribbons and a can of red hair spray.

Tie hair in two low pigtails. Stick three pipe cleaners in each pigtail and using each pipe cleaner as the basis for each section, plait the pigtails. Tie them up. Spray head liberally with red hair spray (remember to cover face and clothes). Let dry and tie on some green ribbons.

The thing with the red hair spray is to make sure the can says water soluble. Don't be conned into purchasing the stuff from the $2 Shop either, not a good idea. We got ours from the Pharmacy, it's made by Zo and washed out super easy. No scalp staining either. Before I washed it out, I tested it by running a wet cotton bud down Lily's part and it came off so easily.

Add some extra freckles with a eye liner pencil.

Slip into a floral frock, pull on some stripey knee high socks and buckle up your school shoes; and Pippi is done!

If you're feeling extra adventurous find a toy monkey (Mr Nielson) and your favourite hobby horse, and trot on off to school!

She soooo loved being Pippi, so much so that she wore the outfit to bed complete with pigtails still in (we covered her pillow with a towel).... and all the next day too!!!

zigging along

2011-09-01T22:20:00.001+10:00

Literally, that's what it seems like I've been constantly doing of late; zigging one way and zagging the other with barely enough time to stop and breathe.

Why the madness?

Possibly because of a little case of over-extending myself with new patterns and testing.

As I type this, I have four patterns currently in testing, another two ready to go into testing and a quite a few more in various stages of productivity. That's not to mention the ones that are desperately waiting to be cast on. I'm trying really hard to resist the urge to begin something new, because I know there's already too much going on.

Unfortunately though, that's often how I work best though. Grab an idea completely immerse myself in it and run with it is what seems to work for me.

I know, I know, I can take notes and draw sketches... but it's just not the same. And you know, there's nothing worse than when you've done that and have an awesome design sitting there on paper awaiting transformation... and then you see something similar pop up on Ravelry.

crapola!

So anyway, in all this craziness I have released a couple of patterns of recent.

You might remember some pics of this little dude in his beanie from a few months ago.

My he still looks like a baby here! Not so now. When did that happen?

This is the ziggy beanie. A beanie for newborns to large adults. You can knit one for everyone in the family pretty much. A fun seamless knit perfect for dk/8ply weight yarn.

The pattern also includes instructions for knitting a beanie to your exact sizing to get the perfect individual fit.

You can purchase this pattern individually or as part of the zig-zag e-book. A wee little book with five ziggity patterns in it. I'll tell you some more about the other one that has been released maybe tomorrow. I've been meaning to blog about its design process for sooo long it's not funny!!!

For more details just visit my Ravelry pattern store .
Pssst: you don't need to be a member of Rav either to visit the store now ;) cool hey!

a skirt pattern...revisited

2011-08-28T22:11:00.000+10:00

a wee while ago I posted some photos of a pattern I was working on, a skirt pattern without a name.

Well, it now has a name, and it is very very nearly ready for release.

Today we set off to get some better photos of the skirt for the pattern pages. The photos I took were quite wintery with Lily wearing her school undergarments [leggings and thermal] under it. The weather here has been so totally glorious most of the time here of late. We've had a really cold and wet winter, and it has been so nice to be enjoying a burst of early Spring in most of August with temperatures hitting around 22 degrees celsius.

Bye bye winter, I say! The cold I don't mind (and ok, I admit it really isn't that cold here, average day time maximums are around 15-17 degrees in winter. The lowest maximum we've ever really had is perhaps 10 degrees, but to be honest I'm not sure it's even been that cold.) But the rain, far out brussel sprout, it drives me absolutely bonkers!! We've had sooo much rain this winter!! Which, yes it's good as we've been suffering drought for years and years but we're to school walkers and in winter, rain and cold is the pits!

But today, was another glorious day. Sunshine, how lovely it is! Flower buds appearing on the fruit trees, the garden blossoming with lots of purple and pink, which seems to be the prominent colour for Australian natives in late Winter/early Spring. The daffodils providing an elegant burst of yellow from their pot on the back deck. The beach, even at 5pm was sensational.

We swapped the blue jersey for a light summery pink t-shirt, and I have to say I was pretty stoked with the results. Beautiful Spring photos full of joy and life and laughter. Gosh, she had some fun dancing in those waves!

So this little pattern will be available not too soon after the calendar turns to true Spring.

It's part of an e-book, which if you're following me on Facebook or in my Ravelry group, you might know about. But I have to admit I have been a little woeful at updating the blog of late.

Ziggidy-doo is part of the zig-zag e-book, a little pattern book with five patterns. Two have already been released, ziggy jumper and ziggy beanie. The other three, including ziggidy-doo, will all be released in September. All five patterns are also available individually.

I best come back tomorrow and update you on the three pattern releases that I've somehow missed out on chatting about on here.

xxx

time

2011-08-10T12:09:00.001+10:00

It might seem like I've lost my blogging mojo a bit lately, I truly haven't. I just seem to be lacking in that essential ingredient called 'time'. I thought I would have so much more 'time' with Lily at school but it's just not so. I didn't factor in a couple of essential ingredients;

1. Two year-olds demand more attention and create far more mess than one-year olds. Far far more! I cannot stress this enough! I am blessed that both my children were gifted with an over-abundance of imagination, but it does mean things take extra time when even doing a simple task like making the beds, I have to be some random character. Often Alice or Max.

Toby really misses Lily when she's at school. So do I for that matter. They have a beautiful loving relationship and play really well, she really fosters his creative play. He constantly play acts now with everything. He has an amazing memory and often re-enacts stories we have read with his toy animals or trains. There is a dinosaur and a duck having a conversation at my feet at this very moment. The duck is asking the dinosaur, "are you my Mother?" Can you guess what we read last night?
Toby needs me to play with him far more now that Lily is at school and not filling that role, he is constantly wanting someone to play with and we're having to go down the road of organising play dates for him!

Two-year olds also try to raid the pantry and fridge a heck of a lot more, and seem to be constantly wanting something to eat. Or raiding their sister's room to get into all those things they're not allowed to do when she's at home. A two year let loose with the Sylvania family collection is not a pretty sight.

2. I insist on walking Lily to school and back every day; rain, hail or shine. This takes a good 80 minutes out of each day; more if there is glorious sunshine and things to explore on the way home. I'm sure you know those things, unusual shaped leaves, new blossoms on trees, butterflies or gumnut things that are stangely shaped like witches fake finger nails and so much fun to collect. This morning we were nearly late for school as we spent way too long admiring a couple of spiderwebs in a bush all glittering and bejewelled with raindrops. On Tuesdays, I walk for over 2 hours total, once the walk to gymnastics and home is factored in.

3. Helping out in the classroom also takes up time, but I so love that and would not give it up for the world. As an English teacher I really love the time spent listening to the kiddies read. It's startling how much the gap between the more advanced in the class and those beginning to struggle is, even at this age. It makes me quite sad actually that so much of a child's reading ability is already set in stone before they even start school. Reading to kids when they're little really does create such important building blocks for their own literacy acquisition. You can never start too young. Lily had her first book read to her at a few hours old, Toby the same.

I also love working with the kids in Investigation time when they get to explore their creativity to its fullest, such an important part of education. I love that our school offers this, I think it's so important for kids to develop their love for craft and creativity at a young age, along with the confidence to explore and try new things. That freedom of expression without the burden of expectation or societal pressure is not something we ever get another shot at really.

4. Having to get up early EVERY day for the school run means no more regularly burning the midnight candle. That was when I used to be at my most productive, once everyone else in the house was tucked up in bed and I had the house to myself to relax and ease into my craft. Sometimes I'd have to shoo myself off to bed as the clock approached 2am. It was do-able last year on two early mornings but five, no way!

But you know, I wouldn't change anything for the world. If it means this blog is not updated as often, or the floors are in desperate need of a sweep; I don't really care. Time with the little ones is what it's all about, this staying at home being a mum stuff.

a pattern release

2011-07-31T18:29:00.000+10:00

Meet Girl's Best Cardigan, my latest pattern.

I actually knit this little baby last year; not just say at the end of last year, but June last year. For a whole lot of reasons, many including life itself, it sort of never really got written up into a pattern. The scribbly notes for this just sat there in my little kikki k notebook unattended. It wasn't that I didn't like this cardie, I loved it but winter came to an end and it just got passed over.

Luckily for me, some knitters have long memories. And the infrequent requests for this pattern became a bit more regular and frequent. I was getting a kick up the bum and hurry along to get on with this one! A good thing too, I reckon!

I learnt a lot when it came to writing this pattern, a lot about my style of note taking and pattern writing. I

think, I hope, I've learnt not to take so long between the prototype and the pattern again. What can seem obvious to me at the time of knitting, may not seem so obvious later on... particularly in this case, a year later! In fact, since writing this pattern, each prototype I've knit has been immediately written into first draft pattern form awaiting grading. So not only am I taking much better notes but also transferring those notes into pattern form much quicker. All a good thing, and will hopefully make my job a lot easier in the long run. Not that anything disastrous happened with this pattern, mind you. I just had a couple of moments where I had to "read" the garment to make a little more sense of what I'd written in my notes; or hadn't written.

So now that this little baby has been through testing and tech editing, it's ready to purchase. I have to say that this is probably one of Lily's favourite knitted garments. It's really got all the design features she likes rolled into the one pattern.

So here's a bit of the pattern spiel:

Every little girl needs a special cardigan, one for best. One that’s pretty and special and girly and makes her feel oh so lovely!

This is that cardigan.

Perfect for parties and dancing and afternoon tea parties; even if they’re just with her dollies!

This is a sweet little seamless cardigan, knit top-down. It features sweet lace panels and eye-catching little gathers at the cuff and hemline. A dainty picot edging finishes off the cardigan.

Sure to become every little girl’s best!

Pattern contains both chart and written instructions for lace panels. Photo tutorial is provided for completing the sleeve and hemline gathers.

Sizes

6m to 12 years (17 " - 30 " chest)

All colour-coded for ease of following.

Recommended yarns:

WOOLganics Organic Merino Knitters Yarn (what else!)

This garment is knit at a tension of 22 stitches per inch/4cm over 28 rows, so subbing with a similar dk/8ply weight yarn will work equally well.

Special techniques used:
Provisional cast on
Picking up stitches
Simple lace work
Circular knitting

Yardage

6m-3y: 380/350 (420/385, 460/420, 500/460, 550/505, 600/550)
4y-12y: 650/595 (700/640, 780/715, 850/780, 950/870, 1050/960, 1220/1120)
yards/metres.

You can purchase here via paypal for a teeny tiny $6AUD

or on my Rav page!

Happy knitting!

Sunday Spotlight: Never Ending Obsessions

2011-07-24T18:35:00.000+10:00

Last weekend I finally had the opportunity to go to the Bendigo Sheep and Wool Show; yarnie mecca.

I say finally because every year I get all excited about finally getting to go, and then the date of the show dawns on me about the time I think about booking accommodation. It's the weekend closest to my niece's birthday, every year. This niece is not just any niece though, she's my Lily's best friend. So the idea of missing Lily's best friends birthday for anything is not something we even go into. It's just a no go zone. So every year we head off to said niece's birthday and have the most fabulous time, and to be honest I don't even give the Show a second thought.

This year, however, things changed. My niece and her family moved house the weekend of her birthday, which meant all celebrations that weekend were out. So off we headed for a bit of little jaunt to Bendigo; stopping for two nights in Daylesford first. Then Castlemaine on Friday night, and headed down to Warrnambool for nephew's 21st! phew!!! And of course, back to school on the Monday.

One of my favourite stands at the Show was definitely Never Ending Obsessions, so I've decided to chat a bit about NEO in this Sunday Spotlight.

The colourway above is Hungry Caterpillar, and I think it must be considered Tammy's signature colourway. I remember when she first started doing this colourway it would be snatched up very quickly so I was very pleased to be able to grab one at the show. I love the deep colour saturation in this skein, the brightness of it, the rainbow colours and the fact that it's dyed on my favourite yarn base, WOOLganics, makes it a big winner all round.

I also picked up three skeins of this glorious yellow from Tammy. Yellow perfection! Totally!!!

Again, the colours are so bright and rich and despite it being a worsted weight, I couldn't resist it. I even have plans for what I'm going to knit with it.

Now apart from this wonderful eye candy I have also knit with some of Tammy's yarns before. I've knit some lovely socks for Lily from Tammy's organic merino sock yarn. It was an absolute pleasure to knit with and they have worn soo well! I mean to say we're talking kids' socks here, and some pretty constant wear.

I also used Tammy's yarns for the prototype of my Darwinia baby doll pattern, this time some of her BFL DK. I love BFL DK as a yarn base, it is beautifully hard wearing and has astonishing yardage..it just seems to go on and on and on. It's a beautiful yarn and in this colourway it just becomes sensational.

You can check out Tammy's gorgeous yarns at minicuteture.

She's on a little break at the moment but I'm sure she'll be back soon. You can also find her on Facebook.

AN EZ Almanac Update

2011-07-12T00:33:00.000+10:00

Oh my goodness! My poor neglected blog, it has been almost a month since I last blogged.

I have an embarrassing admission to make. It's been so long since I last blogged that I couldn't remember my password when I logged in tonight to write this! eek!

So very very much has happened in the last month craftwise and knittylike, but I'm not going to try and squeeze it in to the one blog post. No, that would be horrendously long! I'm going to try and blog nearly every day until I catch up. You know it's been a long time since last blog when you can write a list of the different blog posts that you NEED to write. I have quite a few, including one I've been planning for a good couple of weeks about the design construction and process of one of my patterns currently in testing.

I thought to get back into the swing of things I'd start with something easy-ish; an EZ KAL update. So here's my month-by-month run down for the first 6 months:

January: done.
Cheated and did the BSJ instead of the big-ass aran sweater. I did cast on the aran beanie for part of March though.

February: done
Top marks for this month, I actually completed two February Baby Jackets. woot! I've share the pics of the one I made for Lily already, but not the one I made for Sage.

March: done.
Ignored the idea of the difficult sweater, even though it's not really difficult and knit the double knit pot holder from February instead. Technically, that means March isn't complete, but let's not squibble about such small details. Also cast on Aran beanie from January... not finished though because the yarn I chose is crap!

April: done!
The Mystery Blanket.
ahem, yep I knit a whole flippin' blanket! And..I..actually..finished..the..damn..thing!
Yep, finished. It's not languishing in the WIP basket like I fully expected it to be for the next six months or so; it's actually finished. This is pretty amazing stuff!

Here she is:

All 20 squares of her, weaved together!

It took 10 balls of Noro Koreyun exactly. No, please don't work out how much that cost!! eek!!! it was well worth it, a fun enjoyable way to pass the time, the little boy loves it, it's used daily and really, it's heaps cheaper than a crack addiction. Truly.

See, it's getting used every where!

May: fail
I cast on the mittens for Lily, did some extremely rough calcumations to downsize them to child size. Flew through most of the first one in a night, tried it on Lily ~ too small. It fit Toby but he doesn't want pink and purple mittens. Lost faith in the mittens so hid them.

June: fail
June is hats, three different options in fact. I shall blame the fact that I couldn't go to the KAL night on the fact that I have knit none of these hats.
I did knit three hats in June...just not the ones for the KAL.

four out of six months sort of done; well that's not too bad really. And I suspect I will get to those mittens shortly and perhaps even a hat.

July is a shawl, a big round mother of a shawl. We already have two beautiful circular shawls though... I guess I'm not really feeling the love for the shawl to be honest!

making my heart sing..

2011-06-13T16:58:00.002+10:00

my sweet little two and their love of wearing knitteds.

Toby will always ask me if I am knitting him a jumper if he sees me knitting something. He also gets very excited when I grab a milo out of the cupboard to put on him. He puts his hands straight up and says excitedly, "A milo!"

I am grateful that Lily still loves wearing knitted garments. Secretly, I think it's because I knit predominantly in dk weight yarn. I think kids find thicker yarn a little more unwieldy and unyielding to wear, which possible turns them off wool. I know anything I've knit her that's thicker generally doesn't get worn by choice.

And my favourite part about their outfits on this lazy Queen's birthday Monday, two cute little pairs of feet:

AND because it's a birthday kind of day, which is always good for presents; how about a little game!
I've played this before on my facebook page and it was fun!

In these photos there are six knitted garments.
Can you name the patterns they come from?

First person to name all six wins their choice of two of my patterns in pdf form.

ETA: links to patterns (as we have winners)

milo by me
I love milo heart cable by me
Ziggy beanie by me (not yet released but in testing)
Epicene by Sheryl Greenfield
Dolce socks by Sheryl Greenfield
Giving Pixie Hat by Theresa Belville

Sunday Spotlight: evoke yarn and fabric

2011-06-05T21:32:00.001+10:00

A interesting discussion Ravelry over the last few days got me thinking about the state of the Australian indie yarn dyers' industry. It also got me thinking about how I, myself, had strayed from my original intention of promoting local indie dyers. Time to rectify matters. And so I introduce to you a very semi-regular blog feature; Spotlight Sunday. A little time and place to shine the spotlight on some of my favourite Aussie indie dyers.

Where else to start but with one of my all time favourites; evoke! (formerly known as the yarn cafe)

I really love Elissa's style of dyeing. She creates a great mix of yarns and colourways; from stunning vareigateds to perfect semi- solids. She has a wonderful eye for colour, and her colourways are always beautifully saturated.

The piece de resistant in Elissa's range would have to be her gradients. My personal favourite is the rainbow gradient which is THE yarn that inspired the Rainbow Dress. Seriously, look at that colour!

Rainbow Dress knit in Evoke Rainbow Gradient on a 4 Bags Full base.

I thought I'd share with you a few photos of some of my favourite items I've knit with Evoke yarns to show you how beautifully it knits up.

Oriental Lily knit in Evoke 4 Bags Full Merino, colourway 'Maia Jade'.

Little Hoodlum knit in Evoke hand-dyed WOOLganics, colourway 'Earthsky'

Ziggy knit in Evoke hand-dyed Treliske Merino, colourway Brassica.

You can check out more of the evoke colourways over on Elissa's website evoke yarn and fabric or her group on Ravelry

a skirt pattern

2011-06-01T21:33:00.000+10:00

that has no name.

Well, it does sort of.

It's more of a working title though, until something more suitable pops into my head.
Ziggidy doo is the working title. yep, that's a joint effort from Lily and me!

This little skirt will be part of a little pattern series, together with a beanie and a jumper and maybe a few other things. I really love this skirt, and I can honestly say the photos don't do it justice. It really is hard to photograph a skirt. You want to get the skirt in but you don't want to lose the personality. But in doing that you often lose some of the detail of the skirt. Alternatively, if you photograph just the skirt

you lose the personality and that attraction of the cute model.
Tell me I'm overthinking this, please!!!

Regardless, I really do love this little skirt!
I'll tell you what I really like about it. It's not too little girly, it's a little bit more grown up without being too tweeny or too old, if you know what I mean. It's light and not too bulky and it just seems to skim the body and hips. I guess it being on a 6 year old lean little things does help the appeal. And I just love the texture of the zigzag stitch pattern. Perhaps it could even be slimming on an adult, do you think? I am planning to knit myself this skirt, and even write the pattern up in adult sizes...but don't hold your breathe. My track record with adult knits ain't that great at the moment!

Anyway, I've spent the afternoon grading this pattern and now it just needs a little prettying up and playing around with and it's off to the testers.

Any ideas for a pattern name will be greatly appreciated.

i love milo

2011-05-28T17:34:00.002+10:00

Over on my Ravelry group I'm hosting a Knit-A-Long (KAL) for the Month of May, that we're calling Milo May. Sounds kind of catchy really! We're having a crazy big knit-a-long in the lead up to the second anniversary of the release of the milo pattern. Hard to believe it's only been two years, but yep, the milo pattern was released June 6th 2009.

Milo is quite a special little pattern for me, as it's the first pattern I charged for. It changed my whole approach to making, creating and designing knitting patterns. Before then there is no way I would have considered myself a knitwear designer. Truth be told, sometimes I still don't. But regardless, milo changed everything, mainly because it was a heck of a lot more popular than I could ever EVER have imagined in my wildest dreams. So there is a lot about milo that I have to be grateful for really.

So far on Ravelry there have been 105 milos knit up for the KAL! And over 2400 in total! WOW!!
And what I love most of all is the creativity that has gone into all these KAL milos; new cables have been designed and created, lots of colourwork has been happening with quite a few charting their own colourwork patterns, embellishments galore, substitution of stitch patterns, and of course, plenty of gorgeous knit-to-pattern milos too.

If you're on Rav seriously have a look at them all .

I've knit two, but do have plans to squeeze a third one in before the 6th. Neither of the two I've knit are for the milo boy. oops.

The first one was for Lily.

This one is knit in Noro Silkgarden Lite. Yep, that Noro crack action is still happening. For Lily I knit a 21 inch chest size (size 2) but knit it with extra length to a size 6 length. It used 2 and a half skeins of the Noro.

Through experience with Toby's Silkgarden Noro, I know that this yarn does tend to grow quite a bit with blocking and wear. Lily is now a 22 inch chest, but I knit her the 21 inch chest. I really could go down needle sizes but you know, I quite like the fabric of the Noro at this tension.

I played around with cable design for this one and did something that I'd been meaning to do for a very very long time! I designed a little heart cable that you can quite simply substitute into the milo pattern. It has the same stitch count as the cables on the milo so there's no maths figuring to get this to work.

The second one was for Toby's little baby doll; a wee little dolly size milo. Again, with the heart cable.
(excuse the unblocked garment)

If you like the look of this heart cable, you can add one to your milo (or anything else you think it might suit) by downloading it from Ravelry here.
Hopefully, I shall have time to update the milo pattern soon and add it properly.

Enjoy!

little butterflies

2011-05-25T14:07:00.003+10:00

so, it's the year of the sweater/cardigan/jumper/jersey thing for me it seems.

I think I've knocked off 10 so far, with another five currently on the needles in various stages of hibernation and liveliness.

A little while ago you might remember me rabbiting on about two that I was going to share...mmm, perhaps I sort of forgot about that or got a wee bit distracted. I am a bit like that; easily distracted and forgetful..

So here are those other two sweaters, cardigans, actually.

This is from my new pattern Little Butterflies which was released, oh, nearly a month ago. I may have forgotten to mention that too. School holiday time and all that.

Little Butterflies is another seamless top-down pattern. If you look closely you can see little butterflies flitting around the yoke of the cardigan. It's a longer length cardie with pockets. Perfect for casual hanging around kind of days, or dressy too really.

I'm feeling a bit of love for short sleeved cardigans at the moment, probably because it's been Autumn so they're perfect for over long-sleeved t-shirts. But you really can knit the sleeves to any length you like. Suggested sleeve lengths are included for long sleeves too.

The pattern is written for dk weight yarn, because I really do think dk weight is the best weight for kids! Not too thick, doesn't take too long to whip up and still has a lovely drape, fabric and weight to it.

This particular green one is knit in Madelinetosh dk. A lovely superwash yarn that is hand-dyed in a brilliant array of colours. Aussie MCN knitters of old will find this a fairly similar yarn to Four Bags Full Merino.

However, the design and style of this little cardigan does lend itself to other yarn weights. It can work as a short sleeved jacket type cardigan in a heavier yarn like this one below.

This is knit in Yarnoodles Mountain Meadow yarn, colourway bloom. And I knit it at a tension of 17 stitches per 4 inches. I wouldn't knit it any tighter, if anything perhaps a bit looser. So you can see it is quite a heavy worsted weight yarn.

The pattern gives a clear and detailed step-by-step tutorial complete with a subbing table and blank pattern to work this cardigan in a variety of yarn weights to suit your needs.

It also explains how you can work a contrasting trim like this one, which is knit on afterwards.

If you like it, you can purchase the pattern in my Rav store here for $6AUD.

You no longer have to be a Rav member to access designer stores.
How cool is that!

creative space: the noro love

2011-05-12T14:20:00.000+10:00

Today I am feeling the noro love in my creative space.

Well, to be honest, I've been feeling it for a wee little while now.

It's all Elizabeth Zimmermann's fault; although I doubt she ever knit with Noro, the blame is definitely hers... well, sort of.

It began fairly innocently, as these things usually do. My LYS EZ KAL night; April's task was the Mystery Blanket. To me nothing says mitered squares like gradient yarn, and well my LYS stocks Noro. I decided to do a couple of squares in Noro Kureyon.., just enough for a wee little lap rug for Toby.

Innocent start really. Fast forward a couple of weeks, 6 balls and 15 squares later we have this rug awaiting its border.

Well, that was the plan, but......

When I looked at it, I sort of decided it needed another row of squares, rather than 5 x 3, it needed to be 5 x 4.

And so now, I've cracked a seventh ball, and have three squares to knit before I start on the border.

definitely.

In the mean time I've also cast on a milo for my rainbow girl... in noro silk garden lite.

more creative spaces over at kootoyoo's
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

out of the wilderness

2011-04-20T10:14:00.002+10:00

Once again I've been MIA for a wee bit. We decided to take advantage of the school holidays and the last bursts of pleasant weather to take the kids away on a little family holiday. So off we went to the bush block.

Despite the hope for a continuation of the fabulous weather we've been having it was wet and a bit on the chilly side. But this did mean there were plenty of puddles to explore.

There was a also train rides to be had,

trees to climb,

hide and seek to play,

lots of wandering, walking and exploring.
As well as a big trek to the gem fields!

Jetties to hang out on,
(and if you're Toby, apparently throw your toys off and into the dam! eek!)

water to explore and paddle in,

so so so so many dragonflies to wonder at,

and just a little bit of knitting.

Just ... squeezed in amongst the beautiful distractions.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:off the beaten track

Things I know about felting.. and some that I forget!

2011-04-07T11:25:00.001+10:00

I've mentioned a couple of times that this year I'm working my way through Elizabeth Zimmermann's Almanac and knitting up one of her patterns for each month of the year. I'm doing this with a group of ladies from my LYS in Geelong, Twisted Threads.

There has been a bit of cheating and self selection involved. Truth be told; out of the three months of the year so far we've only stuck to the Almanac for one. Well, the group only started in February, but I did complete a January project by myself, which also wasn't part of the Almanac agenda. I'm sure EZ wouldn't mind!

But you know, I am actually going to re-visit January and March and whip something up from those months; just not a full size 40" chest jumper, no matter how much Andy would love me forever and be so totally grateful.

so for March our group divulged in a bit of double knitting and as well as tackling the January hat swatch, which I must say looks awesome!

I tackled some double knitting, the double knitted pot holder.

I chose to knit mine using some leftover Cascade 109 Bulky on 9mm needles with the reasoning that if it's going to be a pot holder, I'd probably prefer a felted fabric.

I've done a wee bit of felting over the time, but I really don't know what I'm doing. My approach is pretty much chuck it in the washing machine and hope for the best. And generally that has served me well, all has turned out pretty much as planned. Felting, however, is one of those crafts where I always have a moment of clarity, generally at the end of the felting process, when I think, "ahhh, that's right, that's what I'm meant to do."

So here are my personal felting reminders:

1. You can felt in a front loader, despite what some people will tell you. And yes, even the super dooper water efficient ones will felt.
If you're lucky enough to have one of those front loaders that can be paused and open the door half way through a cycle os you can check on how your felting is going, even better. I used to do that, now I just throw it in and hope for the best. I like the cavalier approach.

2. Best to always eliminate the rinse cycle. Those built in wrinkles aren't the best look.

3. The quick 30 minute cycle isn't long enough.

4. Be brave and hit 60 degrees!

5. It's jeans that I need to throw in the machine with my felting, not towels.
Unless of course, you DO want bits of fluff all over your felted item.

6. When you're knitting up your felted object, stick to either garter or stocking stitch.
Different sized stitches which stretch in different directions means they're going to felt differently.
No, that hint of a ruffle on the edge of my pot holder wasn't deliberate.

7. Don't let your husband see you put woollens in the washing machine.
He might get the idea that you can wash woollens in there, which you can if you know what you're doing. But really what man does know what he's doing with a washing machine? I have teeny tiny felted woollies and lots of grey underwear that tells me that.

8. Felting is a bit like scrambling an egg, once it's done; you can't undo it. It ain't ever going to go back to the way it was.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Ziggy: sweater #9.

2011-04-04T23:44:00.001+10:00

Even though I haven't yet shared with you any photos of sweaters numbers 7 and 8, I am going to jump right onto number 9.

This is Ziggy, which the autocorrect thingy on my iPad keeps changing to Piggy, hmmmm.

I'm skipping along to share these photos because it seems so few and far between that I knit for the wee boy. And I really really need to remember to do more while he's still relatively small. He's just hitting that stage where I can no longer get a jumper out of 200g so it's not going to be long and he'll be towering over me and refusing to wear hand knits!! eek, what a future!!!

So while he's still so very very cute and sweet and little and it's approaching winter, I'm going to deck him out in the most gorgeous and cute little boy knits that my wee little brain can muster up.

Quite honestly, boys do miss out a bit when it comes to new knitting patterns. I have to be honest and say that if I look through my visual diary at the sketches (really badly drawn ones, I assure you!) they're mostly girl knits! There's just so much more scope for girls.

This one I wrote specifically for this yarn, which is one of my favourite colourways. Do you know how much I love this colourway? Loads! So much so that I actually have it on three different yarn bases!

The yarn is Treliske organic merino, a lovely lovely New Zealand yarn which is a pleasure to knit with. This is the first time I've knit with the new construction of the Treliske. Previously, I've only used the old crepe, and you know, I really do love this yarn. Why do I not see it around as much anymore?

The colourway is Brassica and comes from evoke. This is the same colourway that I used on my first milo vest.

I designed this jumper specifically for beautiful hand-dyed yarns like this one from evoke. Such variegated yarns are quite popular and I do have a few in my stash.

I wanted to create a design that would work well with variegated yarns but still have a bit of interest to it. I thought the zig zags and the mixture of stocking stitch and reverse stocking stitch would work well with the variegateds, without it getting too busy.

I used the trim, well, to be honest... because I can't quite get a jumper out of 200g for Toby anymore! I also do know that those who love variegated yarns sick, also have a bit of a fondness for matchy matchy trim yarns too!

While i was knitting this jumper Toby would often refuse to try it on, and even when I first finished it told me he wouldn't wear it!

However, I put it on him this afternoon, took him down to our local park at the end of the block to see the ducks and ...... he didn't take it off for the rest of the day!!!

So yep, this is Ziggy. Another boy pattern in the works at last!
Watch this space for more details on the emerging pattern!!

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march flies by...

2011-04-02T23:57:00.002+11:00

I'm feeling bit of a sense of deja vu as I write this. As I started thinking about what I had to say I had this strange sense that I've already written this post, so much so that I actually had to hastily read my blog to check that I hadn't.

Perhaps it's sitting in my drafts somewhere. who knows.

But yep, I'm going to say it, March really has flown by. If you asked me what I've achieved since my last post, it probably wouldn't be much. I don't think I've managed to knit much, I know I definitely haven't sewn, and given that we're still waiting on insurance issues to replace our oven, I certainly haven't been baking or cooking. So what have I done?

hmm, I did organise a birthday party for our 6 year old and her 20 something closest friends. Don't ask. But it went surprisingly well and quickly and was heaps of fun!

That cake is all about the fairies, in case you're wondering. I'm pretty chuffed with my little toadstools that I thought up all by myself (mini marshmallows and white chocolate cooking melts)

Next year's party is already planned, a sleep over and a visit to Sovereign Hill apparently, with just her bestest cousin/friend.

Today my little six year old reminded me just what a wee one she still is. The conversation went something like this;
(We were doing some grocery shopping and Lily decided she would like some sausages (organic please, mum) for dinner. So there we were looking at the organic sausage range;
Me: Do you want lamb sausages?
Lily: LAMB sausages!!! Lambs don't lay sausages. ( exclaimed rather loudly)
Me: (laughing in shock) Lily, where do you think sausages come from?
Lily points at the vicinity of where babies or eggs come from.
Me: um, from what?
Lily: Sausage dogs, Mum....

Yes, I did laugh. I couldn't help myself. Neither could the man standing behind us.

Then I asked her, "Lily, you do know that butchers make sausages don't you?"

She tried to convince me that she was just tricking but later did tell me that she really did think sausage dogs laid sausages... I am so glad I don't eat sausages, I don't think I will look at them in the same light again.

Actually, I'm not sure she did eat her sausages tonight either.

I was so surprised by this! Lily is a pretty bright little girl, we talk about all sort of deep things. She knows where babies come from and how they're made (despite the girls in the school yard telling her they come out your belly button), she knows who the Prime Minister is and we often have in-deep conversations about environmental issues (She can't understand why so many people drive to school and has come to the conclusion that footpaths are bad for the environment because of the nature they cover up).

In all honesty though, I have never thought that I need to explain where sausages come from. Have you?

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flash as... a video

2011-03-14T23:10:00.001+11:00

a little video to demonstrate how to work that kfPSOkb. That's that little manoeuvre that I use in the underarm cast offs to make it nice and neat in the milo. If you've only ever knit the milo, in some later patterns I decided to give it a name, and kfPSOkb made the most sense. That's knit front pass stitch over knit back.

Anyhow, here's the video. Hope you like!

PS I have no idea how to get it to go smaller so it doesn't overlap on my side bars, sorry!

the year of the sweater

2011-03-13T13:31:00.003+11:00

This year is already quickly becoming the year of the sweater.

I started the year frantically knitting dishcloths and now have a lovely stash for pressies and for us, of about 12.

Apart from that it has purely been sweater knitting, which is such an American word but here in Australia we don't really have a word that covers both cardigans and jumpers, so sweater it is.

Here it is almost halfway through March and to date I have finished eight sweaters, yes eight!!! Granted, one was a doll's cardigan but I'm still counting that. AND I have another three on the needles!

So far I've finished;

an Olearia

a Baby Surprise Jacket

a school cardie

a February Baby Jacket

a Poppy

two versions of a new design I will blog about soon (so no photos today)

and something for Toby, which is what I'm going to share this post.

This gorgeous little jumper is a test knit for a fabulous New Zealand designer, Sara
h Wright. It's called Matariki and was a complete pleasure to knit!

It's knit topdown and seamlessly in dk weight yarn. I used Jo Sharp for this, the Silkroad Tweed DK for the green and white and the Classic for the blue. The photos don't capture it but the blue in the stranded work is an exact match for little nubs throughout the green.

I knit the 18 month size for Toby and just added some length so it will fit him through winter.

The pattern gives some excellent advice on working stranded knitting and would be a great stepping stone for anyone wanting to make the leap into stranded knitting. Some of the other testers had never tried stranded knitting before and they had no problem with this pattern and produced some awesome garments!

The pattern is sized from 18month to size 10 and is a definitely unisex.

You can find purchasing details for Matariki over on Ravelry HERE, so go on, go and check it out!

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Elizabeth's Almanac: February

2011-03-10T22:51:00.004+11:00

Have I mentioned that I'm working my way through the year of patterns from Elizabeth Zimmermann's Knitter's Almanac? I'm sure I have, I probably mentioned I cheated a bit and didn't make the big aran jumper for January, instead substituting it with a Baby Surprise Jacket, one of EZ's other patterns.

February, however, I stuck to the schedule and knit the garment allocated to the month; the Baby Sweater on Two Needles; better known as the February Baby Sweater. Only I didn't really make mine baby size, more like a five year old size. A lean five year old, but yes, a tad bigger than baby size.

It's a fun knit, quite an easy one when it comes down to it but written in more of a directional manner than instructional, as is typical of EZ's style.

It is a pattern where you do need to read ahead so you have a good grasp of what's going on or you may miss crucial aspects of the garment; like creating buttonholes in the garter stitch section of the yoke.

The knitting group at my LYS is doing a bit of a Knit-A-Long with the Almanac this year, and this was our first project.

I made a few simple mods to the pattern; mostly with some of the basic construction aspects and narrowing the sleeves. I also knit the sleeves circular rather than flat as per the pattern. If you want to know more about the mods I used, I took fairly scrupulous notes about the pattern and added them to my Ravelry Project Page.

The yarn for this is a lovely New Zealand yarn, Wadsworth Alpine Merino/Possum in an 8ply weight. It's good to see the New Zealanders are making good use of all those feral possums we so nicely sent them!

It was a lovely yarn to knit with, with just a touch of guard hairs present. But this yarn really comes into its own after a wet block. Oh my gosh!! It is so lovely and soft, with a beautiful fluffiness to it. Totally divine and quite a surprise! My good friend Fiona brought it back from New Zealand with her quite a few years ago and it has been languishing in my stash awaiting the perfect project. I used 200grams pretty much exactly, I love getting such a large garment out of 200grams!

To get this one to fit my five year old, who is lean by the way, I used the dk weight yarn on 4.5mm needles. This is quite a plump dk weight and in US terms would definitely pass as a light worsted, so I knit it as such.

And you know what, I do so love this pattern so much I'm knitting a second one; this time in the perfect yellow. Stay tuned for that as I have just the sleeves to go.

The Almanac's project for March is the Difficult Sweater, a stranded sweater knit in worsted. The swatch for this pattern, quite handily turns itself into a hat. Guess which option I might be taking here.

What are your knitting plans for March?

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The school cardie

2011-03-09T08:28:00.002+11:00

I swear I just blinked and it's suddenly March!

Ever so slowly I'm getting used to this school gig thing. It's now like, what four or five weeks in? maybe more, perhaps?

To be honest, I am really really enjoying the walk to school in the morning when the sun is still soft and the grass often damp. We give ourselves 30 minutes to get to school and this allows a bit of amble, time to stop and look for curly eucalyptus leaves, investigate any possible fairy sightings and talk about the necessities of life with a five year old.

It's been a big change for all of us, and I'm feeling somewhat ambiguous about Lily going for the full week of school in a few weeks time instead of having Wednesday off. I really do love our Wednesdays together. I do so love having one day of the week where I don't have to get up early.

The big challenge for us this year has been, and will be the school uniform. The school dress was always going to be a sure fire winner as it's so symbolic of a school girl. and just like most preschoolers, Lily was desperate to be a school girl.

The shoes, however, were always going to be an issue. This is a girl who has refused to wear socks for the past year or so. Apparently they annoyed her, the seam across the top of the socks was just too annoying to deal with. Do your kids have that issue with socks? It seems it's not that uncommon! I thought she'd refuse point blank on the school shoes too; with them being black and all, so she started the year in her Saltwater Sandals. But then it got wet, and the shoes were essential...and she so loves them!!

The other challenge was really mine. Just quietly, I'm not particularly fond of the saggy blue windcheaters that inevitably fade so quickly. Not when there is lovely wool that can be worn.

Using the 70s fondness for ribbed knits as my inspiration, I decided to knit Lily a school cardigan. Apart from it needing to be navy blue, I wanted something comfortable yet not baggy and daggy; something that would move with her and give her some growing room. And of course, it needed to look good.

I'm pretty pleased with the way this came out. Even more important, Lily loves and happily wears it. Personally, I think it's much nicer than a faded windcheater, and it will probably work out cheaper as well. I knit this in a superwash DK weight yarn, Bendigo Woollen Mills Luxury. It used a bit less than 300 grams, so at a cost of about $24 I think that's pretty good. Being wool it doesn't need to be washed as often as a windcheater, and when it does I can throw it in the washing machine. And she'll get two years at least out of it.

I think it would be a pretty cool cardigan in any colour, and definitely not just for school. The pattern will be heading off to testers probably early next month.

Next up we've got to tackle the lack of a winter dress or skirt option as part of the school uniform. Yep, this is a girl that ain't gonna wear pants!! Not a chance.

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And it was called 'Yellow'

2011-02-27T17:21:00.003+11:00

I think if there was to be a favourite garment that I have knit for Lily; this would be it.

It's my favourite pattern and it's in my favourite colour. A perfect perfect sunshine yellow.

This one has taken quite some time, it has been a labour of love that was not all that laborious. The difference with this knit as opposed to everything else I normally knit, was that this was just a knit for fun. A knit to savior and enjoy and take my time with. I don't get to do that with my knitting very often. i picked it up and put it down and knit it only when I felt like.

I started it way back in September, and when it was finished finally, it took me a whole month before I even weaved the ends in. Then it took another two weeks before I got around to sewing on buttons and blocking it.

I love this cardigan, I so very muchly do! And I am so proud that it is my design!!

Technical Details
Pattern: Olearia by me ;)
Yarn: Biggan Design First Cross Merino DK
Needles: Knitpicks 4mm and 3.25mm and Addi Turbo 30cm 4mm and 3.25mm
Yardage: just shy of 6 balls, 680.8 yards
Mods: An unintentional one that I did not notice until I was finished! I missed a garter bump at the bottom of the bodice, how embarrassment!! I stuffed up my own pattern.
Knit the size 2 pattern but knit the length to size 6 and sleeves to custom fit.

A quick yarn review
This is the first time I have knit with the Biggan Design yarn. The colours are gorgeous and bright. It is so hard to get a good commercial yellow, and this one is perfect. Trust me, I look all the time!! It was a lovely yarn to knit with, slid off the needles easily and did not tangle or catch. Most importantly in terms of being a superwash yarn, it is easy to wash and wear. While characteristically of a superwash, it did go all floppy while blocking, it didn't suffer the growing that is so common to many superwash yarns. It looks like it will wear very well and pill minimally.

This yarn doesn't have the softness of my favourite yarn, WOOLganics, but I think it's probably one of the best superwash yarns around.

Available from Tangled Yarns

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more of the glut

2011-02-20T18:38:00.002+11:00

Beetroot is one of those vegetables that I'm always at a bit of a loss as to what to do with; we roast them and also have a lovely beetroot risotto but apart from that I draw a bit of a zippity blank when it comes to beetroot ideas. But then a certain sister of mine introduced me to beetroot relish, of the store bought variety. So this week, when peering at all the beetroot in our fridge I decided to give the relish a go.

This was what remained after our dinner and this is how I made it.

Beetroot Relish

Ingredients:
1/2 a medium onion, chopped
1 medium beetroot, peeled and grated
2tbs White Wine Vinegar (you could use Red Wine Vinegar or possible any other variety of that type of vinegar)
1/4 cup sugar
4 cloves (you could use a different herb flavour, I think I may also try fennel as I love beetroot and fennel together)
2tbs water

In a small saucepan (I just used a milk saucepan) combine all ingredients, cover and bring to a low simmer. Remove the lid and simmer for 25 minutes, or until fragrant and tender.... allow to cool and serve.

To grate the beetroot, I used a little kitchen gadget I've had forever. I think one of my sisters gave it to me for my birthday at least 10 years ago. It's a little electric thing that only grates and slices. It makes the grating vegetable job soooo easy. So if you've got some flash little (or even big) gadget that does that, I'd suggest use it. Does a Thermomix grate?

So there you go, beetroot relish! Oh so very yummy, and I'll be making this regularly. We had it with chicken, but I also like it in sandwiches and focacias!!

I also decided to try and make some cooked beetroot, to replace tinned beetroot. After all, it's pretty silly eating tinned beetroot when there's fresh in the fridge. I used a recipe Mum gave me from the CWA cookbook.

And some more of the peaches found a new life this weekend as they transformed into peach and berry smoothies. We also cooked up some peaches in a light syrup and made peach and orange sorbet which Lily is looking forward to for dessert tonight!

Tomorrow it's back to the zucchinis and peaches again.
What do you do with all your zucchinis, peaches and beetroot?
I'd love some ideas, preferably vegetarian.

There has been a bit of knitting going on too; this is a little jersey for Toby. I'm adopting the New Zealand term as it is a test knit for a New Zealand designer. I'm pretty stoked with how it's turning out!!! It's knit from Jo Sharp yarn. I love the way the blue specks in the green match the blue in the stranded work.

Hope you've had a lovely weekend!

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my cake and a morning of zucchinis

2011-02-18T14:34:00.002+11:00

Do you have a cake that's your signature cake? A recipe you return to again and again, knowing that it never ever fails you. I'm sure those who bake regularly have many of them, but honestly I'm not a big baker. I like to bake with the kiddies and whip up the occasionally cake but I don't do it on a regular basis. I just don't seem to have the time. This year I'm going to try and make the time though.

This is my signature cake:
(sans icing)

I first made this cake in Home Eco at high school quite some time ago. And it was an instant success. I love this cake so much, I've baked it regularly ever since.

It's a zucchini carrot yoghurt cake.

I think what appeals to me is the sweet mix of cake and vegetables. It's not sickly or over sweet or even too savory. It's just perfect and oh-so moorish , as my sister Megsie from pint will attest to. She's been bugging me for the recipe lately, I guess it's that zucchini glut time of year.

Usually, this cake has some icing but in my typical caviler approach to baking, I ran out of margarine and won't be able to ice it until after I pick Lily up from school. Quite conveniently, we walk home past the supermarket.

So do you want to know the recipe? Or should I just tease Megsie by posting pics with no recipe??? Oh so cruel that would be!

Here goes: Be warned, this is terribly easy and extremely yummy!

ZUCCHINI CARROT YOGHURT CAKE

Ingredients

250 grams butter/margarine
2 eggs
2/3 cup brown sugar
1 cup zucchini coarsely grated
1/2 cup carrot grated
1/3 cup plain natural yoghurt
2 cups SR flour (sifted)

Methods

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.

Stir in zucchini, carrot and yoghurt; then sifted flour.

Spread mixture into a well greased 20cm ring tin. Bake in moderate oven (180*C) for 40 minutes or until cooked when tested.

Stand for a few minutes before turning onto a wire rack to cool.

Ice with butter icing.

BUTTER ICING:
1/2 cup icing sugar
2 tbs butter/margarine
4 drops vanilla 2tsp liquid (if needed)

Sift icing sugar. Cream butter and add icing sugar gradually.
Add vanilla and mix thoroughly.
Add the liquid if a softer icing is required.

And because it is a zucchini glut time of year, Toby and I also made these mini carrot and zucchini muffins this morning.

Oh my gosh!!! They are soooo good. The secret ingredients that make these little babies so awesome are poppy seed and wholemeal flour. Oh so yum! I think these may become a regular for the school lunch box...if I can hide them from Toby.

and what would a morning of zucchinis be without some zucchini soup, made from my mum's recipe with a massive zucchini from her garden .

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my creative space

2011-02-17T21:20:00.002+11:00

Today my creative space has involved some finishing, something that I'm not so good at getting around to doing, which I guess is why I like seamless knits.
These three cardies were the object of my attention.

Blue cardie: This is Lily's school cardie. It got its ends weaved
in, buttons sewn on and a bit of blocking action. It's a little design I'm playing around with, not sure where I will go with it. It's knit from Bendigo Woollen Mills Luxury 8ply, which I chose as it's cheap and machine washable; perfect for a school cardigan. Hopefully, it will hold up to frequent washes.

Yellow cardie: I'm just a wee bit embarrassed to admit that this has been sitting here finished since early January waiting for the final touches. I weaved the ends in the other night and today sewed the buttons on and blocked it. This is knit from Biggans Designs First Cross Merino DK and is my Olearia pattern. I think this yellow one is my favourite; now I really want a yellow one too!!

Mauve cardie: I'm still finishing this one off, just have the second sleeve to go. I'm hoping to get this finished tonight. This is my February Elizabeth Zimmermann knit; the Baby Sweater on Two Needles (also known as the February Baby Jacket). You may notice it's not exactly baby size; a simple upsizing of yarn weight and needle size makes it into Lily's size. I've obviously also added more length. This is knit in a New Zealand Merino/Possum blend.

On my table, I'm admiring these gorgeous Oriental Lilies and sort of missing the little girl who creates little scenes like this throughout the house. It's a campfire! And she's at school.

more spaces to be found over at kootoyoo

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one of the most heartbreaking posts I've read

2011-02-14T18:29:00.001+11:00

Last week while doing a little blog reading catch up, I read the saddest and most heartbreaking post on my friend Julia's blog, Just One WIP.
It's about a precious little girl in New Zealand and the desperate situation that faces her and her family. Little Hope had battled and beaten cancer, only to have it return in a more aggressive form. Julia was taking donations for a raffle to raise funds to help little Hope and her family.

Julia is part of a New Zealand Cloth Nappy forum. I know quite a few of the other girls from there through knitting, and just like Julia, they're all lovely, supportive and very caring ladies. And just like any family, the girls from the forum are throwing their support behind Hope and her family, offering what help they can.

If you visit Julia's blog post here you'll find a list of other raffles/auctions that you too can donate to to help out.

I also wanted to just mention a special one being run by one of my favourite test knitters, and a wonderful licence holder of mine, Krissie, over at Knit Not What. Krissie has joined up with Hannah from Red Ridinghood Yarns and is offering a custom knit Fratello or Sorello in yarn hand dyed in your colour choice.

Pop on over to Krissie's blog. to enter!

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and so..

2011-02-12T01:46:00.002+11:00

I'm not even sure really where to begin. I feel like I've been Missing In Action (and I'm totally not sure why that deserves the capitals that correspond with the abbreviation MIA) lately.

This week has been a big week here in our household. We've shuffled our eldest out the door and bid her on her way to primary school.

I swear, she seems to have grown up soo very much in the last weeks and definitely looks at least a year older than she did a week ago.

i love our little primary school so much. From the perfect developmental curriculum to the caring pastoral care approach to the small town country feel of the school; it really is pretty special really. And Lily is just THRIVING!! She so so loves it, and every day she is so full of such gorgeous stories; be it about her teacher Mr Chatterbox (no, not his real name would you believe) dancing to the music bell. Or what she's drawn in class. Or even about her new bestest school friend, whose name she is finding incredibly hard to remember; "what's her name again, Mum?" She asks me everyday after school. It does make me wonder what she calls her little friend at school and how she gets her attention when she doesn't remember her name, but watching them, they've got that little connection/bond thing happening. Her name is Angelica, in case you're wondering.

I do so love that she has a BEST friend, Tully; a best kindy friend, Sienna; and now a best school friend!

I've done the school walk a plenty this week; often with the pram completely overloaded with both kids perched on it. That means a good workout, so really I'm not complaining. I can feel all that Christmas and Summer extra hip padding slipping away already...bliss!! A couple of days this week I've done the walk/ride to and fro three times!! It's not that far really; 15-20 minutes pram walk so very doable and no way in hell I could allow myself to drive that short a distance. I am, however, looking forward to the full days next week instead of the 1:30 pickups this week.

I am missing my special big girl and I'm sure I'll feel even more lost this coming week. But you know, as long as she loves it and comes home so full of stories and chatter, I'm so happy for her.

and me and the little crazy boy get to spend some serious train track building time together. Over the Summer his language acquisition has exploded; he's now got these full sentences going on. so we have the most wonderful conversations and time together, super super special. Although I must admit he is very very stubborn and knows his own mind a bit too well! Possibly gets that from his father, do you think?

Ther has been some crafting going on,but just not much photographing of it so really not a lot to update here. Maybe on the weekend I'll get some time to get myself up to date. I so hope so!

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it's all about the button today..

2011-01-30T13:08:00.002+11:00

I'm not sure why it is I'm a button-sewer-oner avoider. I mean I like sewing, even hand sewing. And I LOVE buttons. Get that, LOVE!!! But sewing on buttons, I'm a bit nerr about.

The buttons here aren't sewn on yet..

Despite these buttons being Purchased last Monday. Why? Because I can't decide which colour I really do like best.

The orange.....

or the yellow

I'm a yellow kind of girl but I'm heavily leaning towards the orange. At least I was. What do you think?

This little baby jacket is the uber famous Baby Surprise Jacket by Eliabeth Zimmermann. I knit it because.

Basically, the BSJ is a must-knit pattern a bit like a must watch movie, like ummm, er... Star Wars? I dunno, I can't think of a must-watch movie but you get my drift. ooh, like for any lover of Australian literature Cloudstreet is a must read novel.

Elizabeth Zimmermann is this very famous knitty lady, who wrote a stack of newsletters and a number of books that really explode knitting construction in a revolutionary way. She is much loved by those like me in the seamless knitting fraternity.

One of EZ's most fabulous books is The Knitter's Almanac which is like a calendar of knitting projects, with one for each month of the year. There has been a bit of chatter at my Monday night group about knitting through the Almanac this year, but the general consensus was that we weren't that keen on January's project, an aran jumper. Secretly, I think we all just want to knit the February Baby Sweater because I'm guessing we're not going to be that keen on March's 'Difficult Sweater'.

I think I'll just create my own calendar of EZ knits for the year and aim to knock one off per month, so January's is the BSJ.

Not sure were this little jacket is headed, I though tit might be ok for Otis but I suspect it's going to be too small.

Know any babies who are kinda small and keen on technicolour coats?

P.S. I forgot to mention that the BSJ pattern is not in the Almanac. It can be found in Knitting Workshop or The Opinionated Knitter. You can also get a more thorough version from Schoolhouse Press.

The yarn is Noro Koreyun sock.

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creative space

2011-01-27T17:01:00.003+11:00

I'm attempting to lose myself in a little distractive crafting today. This is possibly not helped by the fact that I left my knitting bag in our car, which Andy drove to Melbourne today.

Nor is it helped by the fact that my once glorious (perhaps a tad over-exaggerated) craft room now looks like this:

yep, it's become a boy's room.
Which I must say was FUN FUN FUN to set up!!!

But that meant all my craft stuff had to go somewhere... to the studio.
All my yarn and most of my fabric is now exceptionally well organized, if not a little out of my reach.

The idea seemed great at the time, but later when I realised I will actually probably need Andy to get down any of those boxes, it dawned on me that impromptu cast ons in the middle of the day are now going to be a thing of the past.

So up there we have fabric, yarn and patterns. There is a tub of my girly cottons down lower, as well as my roll of organic denim in my wardrobe and a wicker basket in Toby's room still with cords, stretch and other fabrics.

Eventually, a part of the studio will be mine, all mine. Until then, everything is packed awaiting the move out there.

My favourite little crafty space in the house today though is this one:

Who needs a play tent when you can make your own out of a piece of old tent?
It's hooked up to the guitar stand, my wooden bucket and an upright lamp. Ingenious!!!

more spaces over at kootoyoo

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the winners......

2011-01-27T16:07:00.001+11:00

thanks to everyone who entered our pikki tint giveaway. Megsie from pint and I would like to thanks those people who chose to enter our raffle/giveaway out of all those hundreds out there, particularly as ours was rather late to the party. Together we raised $95 from these two giveaways.

Without further ado, the winnners are............

Giveaway #1: (Alien duds) Pipee!

and

Giveaway #2: (Pixie duds) Angelskies!

Congratulations Pipee and Amy!!!!
If you could both email me a copy of your receipt and your address I shall get your winnings out in the mail ASAP!

my email addy is: tikkijane@gmail.com

Apologies for not drawing this yesterday as arranged. Yesterday was a very draining and emotional day. I spent it in the Alfred Hospital Intensive Care Unit Waiting Room. My Mother-in-law has had a car accident, so we spent the day waiting to get to see her. Keep her in your prayers and send her any spare healing vibes you can, she has a long road to recovery ahead of her.

Giveaway Two (Pixie duds)

2011-01-20T21:16:00.001+11:00

The winner of this giveaway will win a very delightful little pair of duds, a unique OOAK pikki tint collaboration!

The pants are cut from a beautiful certified organic denim, that is soo soft and glorious. It continues to soften on washing and is the ONLY denim I will work with now. They are designed to be quite a loose fit and easily fit over any cloth nappy.

They have been handpainted by Megsie from pint with one of her adorable little pixies in high quality textile paint. You may have seen these cute little pixie in softie form before. There are even a few people out there who are lucky enough to have pixie pinnies or t-shirts. But this is the first time a pixie has graced a pair of shorts. So these are very special indeed!

The pants feature two back pockets cut from a gorgeous green and pink quilters cotton from Patty Young's Mezzanine range. The pockets have also been fully interfaced for additional strength. The shorts are triple stitched through the crotch area for extra durability and have an adjustable waist. The hemline of the duds have been finished with cute yellow binding.

The sizing fits a wide size range.

These are cut to my standard size one short pattern, but feature a longer length leg. They will fit from about 6-9 months as baggy pants, through to a size 1 and 2 as 3/4 length pants right through to the toilet trained young child as long shorts.
Lily is an average sized five-year old (thanks to a bit of growth the last month or so!!! yep, regular readers that chest has finally expanded!!! ) and she is at the top range of the fitting for these with just a little bit of room left in them.

They will fit for a long long time!!!

Measurements
Waist: adjustable
Hips: 70cm/27.5"
Rise: 46cm/18"
Inner leg length: 21cm/8"

To enter this giveaway:
* You must make a unique donation of $5 to the Queensland Flood Relief Appeal
What's a unique donation? One that you make specifically for this giveaway. You cannot have used the donation to enter any other giveaway or raffle! Does that make sense?

* After you've made your donation pop back here and leave your receipt number with your comment.

* You can enter as many times as you like, but each entry must be accompanied by a separate receipt number. Please be honest.

* The winner will be drawn on Wednesday January 26th. The winner will need to be able email me their receipt of donation as proof of donation.

* I will post out the shorts to the winner free of charge anywhere. So all you international peeps, that gives you a chance to win and enter (I'm looking at you NZ gals!!!)

PLEASE NOTE: This giveaway is for the pixie shorts only.
The pixie softie is Lily's and she is her bedtime companion.

To check out more auctions and raffles pop over to Toni's blog and check out the MEEEEGAAAA list!

Giveaway One (Alien duds)

2011-01-20T20:57:00.000+11:00

The winner of this giveaway will win a very delightful little pair of duds, a unique OOAK pikki tint collaboration!

The pantts are cut from a beautiful certified organic denim, that is soo soft and glorious. It continues to soften on washing and is the ONLY denim I will work with now. They are designed to be quite a loose fit and easily fit over any cloth nappy (Toby is wearing a Very Baby AIO underneath here).

They have been handpainted by Megsie from pint with one of her adorable little aliens in high quality textile paint. You may have seen these cute little aliens in softie form before, but this is the first one to grace an item of clothing!!! So these are super special.

The pants feature three pockets cut from a Japanese cotton called 'Retro Spot'. This is a lovely thick and robust cotton with spots of green and brown. The green matches the alien in colour exactly!! (the colour in the photos is not quite accurate) The pockets have also been fully interfaced for additional strength. The shorts are triple stitched through the crotch area for extra durability and have an adjustable waist.

The sizing fits a wide size range.

These are cut to my standard size one short pattern, but feature a longer length leg. They will fit from about 6-9 months as baggy pants, through to a size 1 and 2 as 3/4 length pants right through to the toilet trained young child as long shorts.
Toby is an average sized two-year old and as you can see there is still plenty of room in these for growth.

They will fit for a long long time!!!

Measurements
Waist: adjustable
Hips: 70cm/27.5"
Rise: 46cm/18"
Inner leg length: 18cm/7"

To enter this giveaway:
* You must make a unique donation of $5 to the Queensland Flood Relief Appeal
What's a unique donation? One that you make specifically for this giveaway. You cannot have used the donation to enter any other giveaway or raffle! Does that make sense?

* After you've made your donation pop back here and leave your receipt number with your comment.

* You can enter as many times as you like, but each entry must be accompanied by a separate receipt number. Please be honest.

* The winner will be drawn on Wednesday January 26th. The winner will need to be able email me their receipt of donation as proof of donation.

* I will post out the shorts to the winner free of charge anywhere. So all you international peeps, that gives you a chance to win and enter (I'm looking at you NZ gals!!!)

PLEASE NOTE: This giveaway is for the alien shorts only.
The alien softie is Toby's and he ain't giving that one up!!!!

To check out more auctions and raffles pop over to Toni's blog and check out the MEEEEGAAAA list!

a giveaway or two...

2011-01-20T20:19:00.000+11:00

My lovely sis Megsie from pint was staying with me when the first news of the devastation that swept through Toowoomba and surrounding areas emerged. We knew we had to do something to help raise some funds, like we did with the Victorian Bushfires of 2009. When we found Toni's wonderful post co-ordinating a whole heap of auctions and fundraising, we knew we had to be in on it. I sent Megsie back home last Tuesday (5 hour drive) with a couple of organic denim cuts.

They returned to me this week after she applied her awesome talent to them and this is what they've transformed into.

These are definitely One-of-a-Kind shorts!!!

You know, I'd be quite happy to keep them for my kiddies but... I promised.
Lily has already put her hand up for some mermaid ones though (hint hint Megsie, there will be some more cuts in the mail to you if your kids want to put their orders in!)

Originally we were going to auction them off, but we love Jodie from RicRac's raffle/giveaway idea so much we're doing what so many other crafty bloggers are doing, and borrowing it!

so here we go, two giveaways, same rules apply. Two posts to make it clearer and easier to follow.
i'll post rules in both giveaway posts so it's easier to follow.

giveaway posts to follow.....

and yep, they will be photo heavy
bwahahahahaha!!!!

in times like these.

2011-01-13T16:50:00.001+11:00

I love the blogging and online craft community.
Don't get me wrong, I always love them. But it's in times of hardship, devastation and sheer gut-wrenching hearbreaking times like those in our north face, that the blogging and craft community really come together to show just why they are considered that; a community.
If you haven't already seen it yet pop over to Toni's (of Make it Perfect fame) blog and check out the auctions to raise much needed funds for the Queensland Flood Relief Fund that she is co-ordinating.

And there's plenty more of this happening around the traps:Check out Possum Pouchesand handmade kidsand bris style handmade ark appealjust to name a few!
Like most Australians I've been totally shocked. No that just doesn't seem the right word, somehow. It's not just shocking, it's gut-wrenching sadness. It's a disbelief. It's a helplessness.
I've lived in an area where we experienced flood, flood of mammoth proportions. Roadhouses were swallowed by what seemed like once non-existant rivers that became torrents. Rivers appeared and completely surrounded our town and cut it off by road. Huge huge volumes of water were dumped.
But it seems like nothing compared to what we're seeing in Queensland. The sheer volume and devastation is just unprecedented. What happened in Toowoomba and Grantham I think has changed the way Australians will view the threat of floods forever; just in the same way that the the bushfires that occurred on February 7th 2009 in Victoria changed forever our approach to bushfires. In both tragic events, there's been a total sense of disbelief at the sheer force and devastation nature can create.
And then to watch the waters threaten and then engulf the capital city, Brisbane! Heartbreaking... and just so totally unbelievable.
As a knitter my heart was breaking as I learnt that one of the best yarn stores in Australia faced flooding, Tangled Yarns. I felt so totally devastated for Kelly as she shared photos of the rising waters, the exhaustion she was feeling so clearly evident.

and so with all this in mind, my humble offering to help raise some money for the Queensland Flood Relief Fund...

two patterns; Sorello and Fratello.
All proceeds from the sales of these two new patterns until the end of January will be donated to the Queensland Flood Relief Fund.
Both are seamless and topdown and sizes 6months to 10 years.
I've knit both my prototypes in organic 8ply wool, but some of the knitters in the MKAL used cotton successfully.They're both great little transeasonal garments. These were the patterns from the MKAL I held in November. I've had so many request and queries about the patterns being released. I thought this was a good way to do it and help raise a little bit of funds.
My favourite part of these patterns is without a doubt the feature on the back of the Sorello:

both cost a meagre $5 eachand you can purchase them via my Ravelry store or here
Fratello

Sorello

If you wish to pya via direct debit and have an Australian bank account, email me at tikkijane@gmail.com and I'll send you the details.

While you're at it pop over to my sister's blog pints palette and enter her fantastic little giveaway to also raise some money... and keep your eye's peeled for a couple of super dooper collaborations we are cooking up..

the eco challenge

2011-01-07T15:27:00.001+11:00

Every year our little family sets ourself an eco challenge. The idea is to change an aspect of our life so that it's more environmental. The aim; to break patterns of behaviour that we're accustomed to, that have become habits, and that are at odds with our environmental ideals.

So yep, basically the aim is to break bad habits.

The year before last, I challenged myself to not drive the car in the town we live in. While we do live in a fairly small seaside town, it does take 45 minutes to walk to the main part of town from our house. We used the bus as much as we could, although the bus only comes every couple of hours or so. Andy even got into the act and rode his bike to work more regularly, which is about a 25km trip one way.

Last year, we challenged ourself to not buy any clothes for the entire year. Not even secondhand. So no clothing for two adults, a five year old and a toddling boy.

The first couple of months were the hardest but to be honest, once the shopping pattern was broken, it really was very very easy. And you know what? We survived no worries.

We did benefit from hand-me-downs from cousins, which was particularly helpful for the little lad. And my aim was simply to make what we needed. The reality was that we didn't need that much really. The kids needed pants and jumpers, but beyond that we survived no worries. I even found that I didn't need to make as much as I thought I would. Clothes really do fit kids for a lot longer than just the year the number on the label corresponds to their age. (I say that in jest, simply because I do know people who change their kids' wardrobes over to the next number up each year regardless.) Lily's favourite pair of shorts are a size 1.

This year our focus is on food sustainability. Lily has even started contributing her thoughts to the eco-challenge and helped come up with the focus for 2011. She wants to reduce our use of packaged food, which in itself isn't a great deal, but I love that she is involved.

We eat mostly organic, and do benefit from an organic veggie box delivered every Monday. So we do tend already to focus on eating what's in season, and fairly healthy. We're hoping to increase the productivity of our veggie garden over the course of the year as well as make much more food from scratch. We've been baking bread every day so far, which is great fun! This afternoon I'm hoping to get some fruit loaf happening; with organic raisins, cranberries and goji berries.

I also need to find a recipe to replace those delicious Carmen's muesli bars that Lily loves so very much.
Any suggestions?

One of the benefits of a deliberate eco focus for each year has been Lily's increasing understanding of green issues and concern for the environment. She is very disturbed by rubbish (which she refers to as tinseling) and will pick up rubbish if she sees it.

I love that our no clothes buying has taught her about other aspects of creativity too. Recently she made a couple of games that were based on some of her favourites from kindy. She showed me and said, "Look Mum, you don't always need to buy toys, you can make them sometimes too." then she looked a bit concerned, "But that doesn't mean we should go a year without buying toys though, okay."

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and now for something completely different

2011-01-06T17:09:00.001+11:00

In my post holiday unpacking and cleaning avoidance I've been indulging in a little bit of blog surfing. Oh how I love a good crafty blog... I really think crafty blogs are the besets thing on the www. They're interesting, inspirational and, well...., you probably know all that.

Anyways, the point I'm getting to was that surfing around I noticed a common theme to the knitting blogs I read the most; the end of year yardage tallies and the
planned knits for 2011. So because I'm still avoiding some of the at unpacking and cleaning I thought I would indulge you with my yardage and to knit list.

Yardage knit for 2010:
18, 411 yards (that's nearly 17kms)
or in garment terms, 60 garments!
And you know what? With the exception of a short sleeved cardigan, three scarves, two beanies and a tea cosy; everything else was a kids knit.

hmmm.....

so with that in mind my to knit list for 2011 is going to be a little indulgent, a little selfish and a little bit about ME!

(well, as much as knitting from stash will allow it [yes, yes, I'm pretending that I'm attempting to knit from stash again this year... the joke's on me..yes, I know])

hmm, so what would I like to knit for ME? Browsing my Rav queue elicits these suggestions:

1. Whisper Cardigan by Hannah Fettig.
I've wanted to knit this cardigan EVER since it came out. I even have the yarn to do so, some lovely Knittery Merino Lace.... it's just the prospect of balling over 1000 yards of lace weight yarn is a little daunting!!!

2. Kerrera by Gudrun Johnston
Another Cardigan I've had in my queue forever and also have the yarn for. I'm going to knit this in WOOLganics worsted. Just have to decide on the colour; Gondwana or Sangha. Hmm, perhaps the Gondwana and then I could use the Sangha for Gudrun's Shaldar

3. a new winter hat, something slouchy and comfy. maybe Rose Red or ripely.

4. some mitts, not really sure on contenders yet.
Any suggestions?

5. A little red cardigan; possibly lacy suitable for layering as well as over sundresses. maybe liesl

on the not so selfish front to the list needs to be added:

6. a school cardigan for Lily (Can't stand those horrible fading navy windcheater things that pass for school wear) Just need to find some navy organic yarn?? any suggestions??

7. A couple of skirt designs I'm already itching to get started on.

8. A couple of tops that ditto, I want to whip into shape.

9. Design my first adult garment. I have two contenders here.

10. A beautiful pair of embellished longies with chart from watermellish for Toby. His last pair of longs probably!

and that is it.

i'm sure there will be plenty more.

I wonder if I can crack the 20 000 yard mark.
And just how many garments I'll get made in 2011.

What's on your to knit list?

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a little festive break

2011-01-04T22:44:00.002+11:00

I'm not sure how it happened but I seemed to have had a little break for a good part of the festive season... and some more.
I guess because I was doing Christmas pressie knitting, I didn't have so much to share.

Did you have a good Christmas?
Ours was.
Happy times with family and friends.

The kids had their first Christmas morning in their own home, which was very special for them. It really made us feel like we were proper grown-ups seeing our little ones open their Christmas presents under our own tree in our own home.

Today we're back from our holidays over Christmas and New Year.
It's been a busy time with lots of time spent on the road. Back and forth, from here to there and everywhere. We're all a little tuckered out now and definitely ready for some cosy nights in our own beds.

I hope you are all enjoying a lovely start to the new year.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:a little festive break

At my house

2010-12-06T23:42:00.002+11:00

The frogs are flourishing in our garden, each night their chorus of chirps reminds me that we are doing good in our garden. It is a good place for the native wildlife, despite the rainbow girl's despair at the lack of roses.

The big reds are showing off big time

The native limes are looking profusely promising.

And the little Milo boy is playing trains yet again. today the train has passengers, he climbed atop my sewing desk to steal my Addi needle tip protectors.

I did some last minute sewing for Lily's school orientation day tomorrow. Apparently Gwyneth needed a school dress to wear to the Teddy Bear picnic.

And I wore my new red shoes for the first time.

What's happening at your gaff?

Play along over at Lou lou's

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just in time for Summer

2010-12-05T12:46:00.000+11:00

a couple of posts back I mentioned the acacia pattern and its release. I also mentioned it was part of an e-book which included two other patterns.

Today I am ever so happy that I have finished and added the final pattern to the Spring Wildflowers e-book!! Yippeee!!!

So now along with the acacia the two other patterns in there are:

baby acacia

This is the baby version of the acacia singlet written for 4ply/fingering weight yarns. It comes in sizes newborn to 24 months and is just as deliciously cute and simple to knit as the 8ply version. If you're lucky enough to have a child that fits in the 19 - 21 inch chest range, this means that you can choose to knit acacia in either 4ply for super summery coolness or an 8ply. I've done both for my Lily. It is equally cool and summery in either wool or cotton.

Again, it has two options for the body; the plain stocking stitch and the fully gathered option. There are also the two hem options. You can see a photo of the i-cord hemline on the orange acacia a bit further down.

The photo below shows the small and big end of the range, the orange one is the 3 month size knit in Shepherd Baby Wool 4ply. The mint one is the 24 month size (actually knit to a 5 year length but artfully concealed for the photo ;) ) knit in Bendigo Woollen Mills cotton 4ply in the very popular honeydew colourway. Mmm, my testers for this e-book loved this colourway. There are quite a few versions in it!

darwinia

This pattern also has two options for knitting. Yes, I do like my options!

Firstly, there is the babydoll version:

which is sort of longer tunic length. On toddlers, it does tend to finish at short dress length, those nappy bums and all that. I love how the ribbon just finishes off the empire waist bodice!!

There's also the dress option:

A high-waisted a-line style dress.

This is currently the favourite knitted item in Lily's wardrobe. She loves it!

I love the ruffled hem that finishes off both styles.

I am so glad to finally have this pattern finished and out there. It has been a long long time coming!
As always, thanks to all the wonderful wonderful ladies who helped out with the testing of these patterns. They all produced such gorgeous finished garments and were a delight to work with!

the purchasing options:

The patterns come in pdf format. When you purchase a download link is emailed to you immediately. If you're on Ravelry, the pattern will also add to your library.

They're all colour coded for sizes and are written in a clear and concise manner. These patterns are easy to follow, and result in a quick knit.

The buynow option takes you to a paypal checkout, which is also compatible with credit cards.
If you wish to purchase by direct deposit you will need to have an Australian bank account, or the ability to deposit into one. You can email me on tikkijane@gmail.com and I can arrange a direct deposit for you.

Each pattern is $6 individually, or $10 for all three! Bargain!

baby acacia $6

darwinia $6

Spring Wildflowers $10 for the three patterns.

and so it begins...

2010-12-02T23:48:00.001+11:00

I think I have had too much going on in my life these last few months, so much so that I have officially declared myself on holidays. No matter how desperate a new design playing in my head wants to be knit, it's not getting out. It can be sketched but December is crazy enough as it is without committing myself to new designs or test knits. I still have the finishing touches to put on Darwinia. So new pattern ideas, listen up! Stay put for just a while longer, please. I'll let you out after the festive season is over. Please play nicely for me.

December is for Christmas crafting. I'm trying ever so hard to create quite a few of my Christmas presents this year. I have a list of what I want to achieve, I'd love to make something for everyone on my Christmas list, but you know, I have a big big big family, and that ain't going to happen. So far I have two pressies done; one knit, one sewn. Two from two days, so going well and tonight I've started knitting the third in some gorgeous Sublime Soya Cotton dk.

I've been on a challenge this year to buy no clothes at all; neither new or secondhand. Yes, it has been hard at times, but we're nearly there. Usually, the kiddies have new clothes in their Santa sacks, so this year I'm going to have to make them some. My plans are for some dresses and skirts for Lily, some shorts and appliqued t-shirts for Toby (he has a few plain fair trade organic ones in his wardrobe he hasn't worn much as they're so plain that could do with some jazzying up). They may even score some new knits. Keeping this secret from Lily is the hard part, Toby is totally oblivious to it all, but Lily doesn't miss a thing. She noticed the empty package in my sewing room with the belle and boo tape on it. She noticed the red riding hood fabric next to the machine. She noticed me sewing with my organic denim today, so ducked off to put on a pair of her old shorts, as if to say, "yep, I do wear them, Mum! Make me some more!"

Man, she even noticed the subliminal advertising Safeway snuck into their Christmas colouring competition (I love that she coloured Santa's beard brown because white doesn't show on white and Toby artfully snipped around the outside of his picture). By the way, never try to have a discussion about the negatives of colouring in and colouring competitions with a Check Out Operator... let's not go there ;)

Unfortunately, I can't show you photos here of the Christmas pressies, as while the recipients don't read this blog (well, they can't actually read you know) Mums do. I could ask those mums to look away, but you know, I know them well enough to know that they won't. They're curious types, a bit like me really. Funny that, being sisters and all.

Are you planning many handmade Christmas pressies?
What are you planning on creating?

ok, off to Christmas knit, the photos I'm leaving you with today are of my new acacia pattern knit in wool (WOOLganics of course, Lotus colourway). While the pattern is designed for cotton is does work beautifully in wool as well. This will make a great vest for most seasons of the year, it looks awesome under a tshirt.

acacia

2010-11-29T23:37:00.000+11:00

Somehow it seems to have slipped my mind to actually mention that the acacia pattern has been released.

That fact pretty much typifies the crazy-hectic-madness-cloud that seems to be hovering over our house at the moment. Tonight I made the decision to stay home from my knitting group to spend some time with DK (Incredible, I know!). We seem to have been doing that ships-that-pass-in-the-night thing of late, and I was struggling to remember a time we spent a quiet evening together. Don't even get me started on when we spent a quiet weekend together... that is a very distant memory at the moment. I'm sure most people know what this is like, it comes with the territory of the lead up to Christmas but for some reason this year seems even more crazy! So together we went grocery shopping, and then together we cooked a lamb roast chock full of loads and loads of vegetables. Just the way we like it.

anyway back to the pattern,

so yes, acacia was released....oh!... almost a fortnight ago *gulp*
I could have sworn it was a week tops....

Acacia is the third pattern in the Australian Wildflower series of patterns, all interlinked by the gathering.

It is also the first pattern from the e-book Spring Wildflowers; this little e-book will contain three patterns; the acacia, the baby acacia (4ply version for newborn to 24 months) and darwinia (dress and baby doll).

acacia is knit in an 8ply/dk weight cotton and features two petals, or versions.
It is sized from 12 months to 10 years.

Petal one

a gathered bodice finished with a cute little ribbon.

Petal two

a fully gathered singlet. A slightly looser fit.

I love this pattern, and when I look back on its development I can't believe it's actually taken me so long to get this pattern to the finished stage!! Check out how long ago I actually knit the first prototype of this. yep, that's right, that long ago!!! And no, I don't believe in rushing things, truly.

So acacia is available for sale right now;

you can purchase it individually for $6 or as part of the Spring Wildflowers e-book for $10. If you purchase the e-book the other two patterns will automatically be added to your library, or emailed to you, upon release (which should be in the next few days...all going well)

As usual, patterns are in pdf form, all sizes are colour coded and are written in the usual concise clear manner. Pattern support also comes with the pattern if required.

Both singlets are knit top-down and are completely seamless. They are incredibly quick knits, deceptively simple but give a gorgeous results. I'm loving these and am hoping to whip up a few for my nieces for Christmas, time permitting! These really are the perfect Spring and Summer garment, they look great with shorts, skirts and jeans; as a singlet or over a t-shirt. I've knit one in a dk weight wool as well and it makes a gorgeous vest (which I must get some photos of tomorrow).

So if you'd like to purchase you can do so via Ravelry or by clicking these little buttons here:

Acacia $6

Spring Wildflowers $10

Happy knitting!
I'm off to finish off a buttery yellow darwinia :)

At my house

2010-11-22T17:04:00.003+11:00

At my house the little milo boy and I have new shoes.

A visit to one of LYSs yesterday with a friend yielded some new shoes, as expected. I had my eye on these spotty ones from my last visit but when I spied the perfect green in the little boat shoes, it was love!

Both shoes come from Walnut Melbourne. Awesome little shoes at a hard to beat price.

Mine actually came from the kiddie section; the joys of little feet!

At my house..

the glorious weather has arrived, typically the day after our friend from the warmer climes left. It was a perfect 27 degrees here today. I love the peace that seems to surround our house on these days. Our neighborhood seems so peaceful, calm and quiet today; so at odds with the craziness that hits each weekend in our seaside town.

At my house we've enjoyed some indoor painting today. Lily is currently making paint butterflies. Toby experimented with the paint stamps.

I learnt not to leave a two year old to eat his yoghurt in the same room as he has been painting... I was pretty sure I hadn't served up strawberry yoghurt. hmmm....

Today at my house...

I was totally torn between sewing and knitting this afternoon.

Instead, I chose to play trains with Toby.

This is one of those games that in our house, both adults clamor to be the playmate for. I love train sets, and together Toby and I wiped up an awesome track.

What's happening AT your house today?

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Revised Clue schedule

2010-11-21T09:10:00.002+11:00

So it's the weekend again, and once again I'm doing the sole mummy thing while DK is off trampsing around with diving and the like. He'll be flapping around in these big flippers of his.

anyhow, the revised scehdule for the clue release for the Mystery KAL will be something like this (remember I'm not totally into hard and fast:

Clue 4: Tuesday November 23rd
Clue 5: Monday November 29th
Clue 6: Monday December 6th

so there you go, don't forget if you're playing along with the KAL the serious nitter natter and all that chatter is going down over on my Ravelry group.

Seriously, if you're a knitter and you haven't joined Ravelry you really are missing out on a wealth of information, assistance, friendship and enablement.

Just so you know, there is an error that go transferred from step two in the instructions accompanying the cable chart at the front of the pattern. It is inconsistent with the chart and instructions within the pattern, so if you've started with either of those, continue with those.

hmm, I think I need some new shoes this morning....
Did you know one of my LYS sells both yarn AND shoes? oh and elk brooches.
It's terribly terribly evil

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and we have a two year old..

2010-11-17T00:25:00.000+11:00

In a strange twist of fate, or even synchronicity on the morning of November 12th I found myself in a similar situation to what I was two years ago exactly; immersed in water.

The difference; two years ago, I was relaxing away in a very very deep birthpool bathed in glorious dim light listening to my relaxing birthing music. Doting husband attending to my every need and whim.

Last Friday, I was knee to waist deep in chlorinated heated water doing the one step behind the toddler in the swimming pool thing. Fearless, he is. Last week he decided he was going to tackle the waterslide, I've always kept him away from it. Soon he was going down head first giggling away. This week he watched an older boy run and dive down it. ahum, yep... so he tried that too.

A true water baby.

I'm not sure whether you'll believe it or not, but the first scenario was far more relaxing and possibly less exhausting! Seriously!

And so it really and truly is two years, since our surprisingly large little bundle of boy became a part of our little family.

Oh how, I so dearly dearly love him.

How much he makes me laugh and smile and melt at least a million times a day.

He is so polite and cheeky and devilishly delightful all at the same time.

Today he kept insisting, "Mummy rest!"

Which of course, is near on impossible with his mischief making.

He interrupts his sister's games to steal something from her and runs off giggling away,

as the great chase begins.

He lies down flat on the floor, as if to hide,

if he thinks he is in trouble.

He helps himself to whatever he thinks he wants or needs.

He likes to tackle the vacuuming and sweeping,

or try to get in or jump on the bed when I'm making it.

He giggles, he grins, he gabbles ... incessantly.

He takes the piss out of his father,

blames him for his farts!

He tells the best knock knock jokes... well, for his age.

He gives the best "cuggles" and "kiss".

He is gloriously snuggly to sleep with.

He is crazily active and on-the-go, a mini-adventurer Andy in such a little body.

He loves to jump off everything, run, climb;

you know, all those typical boy things.

He is a sweet tooth, loves his "cock-cock" (chocolate)

and sometimes asks for it at breakfast time

(I do say no).

He loves sushi, bananas, sultanas and honey toast.

He loves a bit of bling.

He loves to dress up ...

in his sister's skirts and pretty dress-ups.

He loves her dolls.

He absolutely dotes on and worships her though.

He's still my little baby though.

He doesn't sleep much.. despite these photos.

He's a bit of a techno nerd... loves to push all the buttons and try and get things to go.

loves Peter (the computer), the iPad and the iPhone,

wanted his own iPad for his birthday.

(He got a trike, a dumptruck and some lego instead)

He is crazily obsessed with penguins, all of whom are called "Happy Shit" (Happy Feet)

And he's totally fascinated by "The Gruffalo".

He also loves his toy Tassie Devil who is called Puppy and Emo the Emu.

Gosh, how much he's grown in those two years.

What a wonderful wonderful two years it has been.

my gorgeous little Toby Milo.

xxx

a bit under the weather

2010-11-14T11:17:00.001+11:00

Just dropping in quickly to let you know I'm feeling a bit crapola and am currently curled up in bed.

I'll be back with the next clue when I'm up on my feet again.

sorry!!!

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the long tailed cast on

2010-11-08T14:02:00.003+11:00

I just wanted to muse a little today about the long tail cast on, as a few participants in the MKAL have expressed concern about the cast on.

When executed correctly a long-tail cast on should be a stretchy cast on. I've never really considered before now, that some people's LTCO may not be as stretchy as it should.

So here's a couple of photos to highlight how stretchy it should be:

This is the neckline for the smallest sizing at rest, this has been worn and tried on so has stretched a little bit laterally.

Same neckline, stretched out not quite to its widest capacity. See all that stretch there? There's at least a good 5 inches laterally and 10 inches overall.

In testing I tried it on over both my almost 24 month old, who has a bigger than average head for his age,

and myself. There was even a bit of room over my noggin. I've got a 56cm head.

I even tried it on over DK's head, it fit over his head but was a bit tight on his nose hehehehe Obviously not so pretty :P

Anyway, if your LTCO is not as stretchy as mine and you do have issues with the fit, here are a couple of things to try:

1. When you're working your cast on, make sure the stitch you create is not too tight or snug on the needle. Remember the aim is to create a stretchy stitch so you don't want it to be too tight. There does need to be a bit of give and leeway between each stitch.

2. Resist the urge to tighten each stitch to make the stitches more uniform in size. The main issue for many people seems to be with the last movement in creating each stitch. The tension you create with your thumb and the up and over should be just enough, it doesn't need anymore applied. DO NOT tighten the stitch after this movement.

3. If you're still not getting the required stretch, try casting on over two needles. This should force you to cast on more loosely.

For some more advice on achieving the ultimate LTCO see the Techknitter's blog post here. She really is the Knitting Sage, when it comes to all things technical!!!

Go on, try it on over your head too. I know you want to!

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Friday favourites

2010-11-05T22:31:00.002+11:00

Right now I'm hanging out with my favourite little boy buddy while he plays with his favourite trains (my little party animal). I'm sipping my favourite wine watching my favourite genre on TV; Friday night British crime on ABC. Ok, maybe it's my second favourite genre after British comedy (Remember I'm a 'Withnail and I' fan!) but I do so like Friday night viewing.. oh and Saturday night now 'Spooks' is back!!! Love that show!!!!!!!!!

A few posts ago I mentioned I was finishing, finishing off a couple of long-standing WIPs that were a bit more long-standing than they should be thanks to knitting dangerously. They're both finished YAY!!! And I think I even managed to finish the required housework, which in itself is a little bit of a miracle. (When can I justify a cleaner? And where will I find one who will only clean with vinegar and bi-carb? [herbal vinegars acceptable])

I mention this because the darwinia dress, the purple cotton one; Lily tells me is her favourite dress. It's the best thing I've ever made her!!! Such high praise that she wore it to kindy, not once but twice this week!!! And she only goes three days in the week!!! I so love it when you get feedback like that!

Oh yes, it is possibly one of my favourites too!
And I love how it works both without a t-shirt and with one.

This dress was the first image that I envisaged in the Wildflowers collection; it was the ORIGINAL Olearia. But somehow it got relegated ( read it had to be frogged and reworked and so got thrown to the sin bin) while Olearia, Cassia and Acacia got worked out.

It still needs a bit of tinkering, which should be all fixed with the testing process. Gosh, I have a wonderful bunch of testers!!!

And tonight another one of my favourite things, the Mystery KAL had another clue added. *eep*
I think I'm even more nervous and well prepared for the handholding some knitters will need through this step.

And remember, no photos until the next step goes up... speaking of clues, here's the calendar for the rest of the steps.

Step one: Tuesday November 2nd
Step two: Friday November 5th
Step three: Saturday November 13th (the 12th is Toby's 2nd birthday, so no clue that day)
Step four: Friday November 19th
Step five: Friday November 26th (no clue for Fratello)
Step six: Friday December 3rd

ok, get knitting!!
then I can post some pics of what it should look like so far, and hopefully your garments all look something like mine.

P.S. you may find in this next step that you wish to move up to the 60cm circular to knit more comfortably.

and don't be scared off by the charts, they're just there for those freakish knitters who loooove charts. I'm sure you know the ones, hell, I might even be one of those chickadees. Cables really are easy peasy, you're just putting a couple of stitches on another needle until you need them again...so not scary!!!

I know people who are scared of cable but yet knit short rows on some of their first knitting projects. Short rows are tricky chickies, if you can do those, cables are a walk in the park. You know, I actually do walk in the park when I knit cables.

Round by round instructions for those of you who want to ignore the charts, should be clear and easy to follow. Both panel details are easy once you get into it...promise!!

oh gaaaaaaawd, I hope you're gonna like it!!!!

MKAL step one

2010-11-02T17:03:00.001+11:00

is up!!!!

Go forth and knit ;)

oh, and one very very simple rule while I remember.

Please don't add progress pics to your blog or Rav projects until the next clue is available, which will be Friday for this one.

OMG, you have no idea how freakin' nervous I am!!!!
Off to hide and try not to peak at the rav chatter thread *eeek*

any questions?

ETA: just cos I know some of you were wondering, if you're knitting smaller sizes, you won't need the 60cm circular. I knit the size 2 with just the 40cm and 30cm. ;)

day 29: some KAL stuff..

2010-11-01T22:59:00.003+11:00

My Mystery KAL testers and I thought it might be a little hilarious if the first step I sent out for the KAL read a little like this:

Using your 4mm circular needle, cast on 40 stitches.
Knit row.
Push stitches around to the other end of the needle (so from the right needle around to the left again), loosely carry the yarn along the back of work and knit the row again from the RS.

Repeat until swatch measures approximately 15cm.

Cast off.

Wash and block your tension square.
Measure your tension both stitchwise and rowwise over 10cm/4inches.

We did laugh so very much about that...but then we thought that might be a bit mean, and that some people might be pissed off a wee bit. So even though we thought it would be so totally hilarious, I decided not to go with a tension square.

What I can tell you is that the link for the first clue will be up tomorrow afternoon. Woot!! The second one will come on Friday.

It was going to be up today but I needed to add a photo of a little something for the girl's pattern, and with Andy away I discovered that it's a little difficult to take a photo of yourself knitting. Seems while I can knit in my sleep, I do actually need two hands to knit with.

While you're waiting, you could always do that tension square. Particularly, if it's a yarn you haven't used before or haven't used for awhile. Tension does change over time. And remember, adjust your needle size accordingly to get the correct tension.

Do you like the button Janis from Marshmellow Magic made? I haven't quite figured out how to host it and link the URK; so feel free to slurp away. There's a boy's one too, check the Rav project page.

oh, and don't mention that October is actually over, please ;)

day 28: finishings

2010-10-31T22:18:00.002+11:00

Today is a day for finishing things.It's always a bit of a plan of mine to get things finished off at the end of the month and start a new month fresh. So today I'm focussing on the finishing.

1. I finished the tax.
This has been a comedy of errors. Of course, I left it until the last minute to lodge it, on Saturday. And only then did I discover some hanky network settings on Andy's laptop that wouldn't let me access the internet in the windows environment using boot camp blah de blah blah. I always do my tax on the laptop. so I had to fill in the forms and post it off...so much more complicated that way!

2. I finished this darwinia dress.
I have an embarrassingly large amount of WIPs on the go at the moment, and this has been sitting there with only a few rows to go, after the lovely yarn fairy came to my rescue. There just seemed to be more pressing things to finish (such as a milo for baby Otis)....
and more pressing things to start.

3. I'm finishing this darwinia babydoll right at this very moment. Pretty much the same story as above.

After this one, there's a couple more oh-so-very close WIPs that I really need to sort too.
And if I can get this baby on my lap back to sleep, I just might finish a pattern.... or two tonight.

4. I finished answering all my emails about the KAL from those who didn't get their email. If you still haven't one and you should have; email me.

5. I, however, did not finish the washing or folding.... or the vacuuming.... and it looks like a bomb has gone off in Lily's room... but oh well.

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day 27: musings on that KAL and yarn choice

2010-10-30T22:31:00.001+11:00

So if you're a part of this little Mystery KAL you should have received an email from me yesterday with a link to the pattern folder. If you're one of those people who emailed me yesterday afternoon, fear not, I will return your email either later this evening or tomorrow. If you were expecting an email because you thought you were signed up and didn't get one, email me and I'll fix that up.

It's been a little hectic around here today. I've been frantically trying to get our tax done in time for the lodgement deadline; tomorrow. Not without a bit of angst and technology frustration to contend with, as is always the case when you leave it to the last minute. Andy has been pre-occupied with packing and organizing for his trip away which involved a 2:30am wake up call tomorrow morning. Lucky him! So the kids have been running free and feral. Lily actually snuggled back into bed for an afternoon nap! Toby sprinkled Weetbix crumbs from one end of the house to the other, fun fun fun!

I suspect I may have confused a few people with my comments about yarn choice.

Let me re-iterate;

Cotton is fine to use, it will work just fine.
However, some of the pattern features will appear to their best when knit in a yarn with a little bit of memory. That's pretty common with most things featuring some cabling and/or lace. Memory gives them that bit of spring and hold; stops them from flattening and stretching out too much.
But if you want to use a pure cotton, go ahead, it will be fine :)
Think about whether or not you like lace or cables knit in cotton, what you think of the look; if you're fine with it GO FOR IT!!!! :D

I knit both the prototype garments in wool, glorious organic dk wool. The girl's version in The Sanguine Gryphon FreeRange and the boy's in WOOLganics Organic Merino Knitters Yarn. Both great great yarns. Both perfect for these garments.

the pattern names are fratello and sorello; Italian for brother and sister.

I've knit both garments with the intention of them being tran-seasonal; so suitable for any time of the year. Obviously on a 40 degree day in the middle of a sweltering Victorian summer, the kids may not want to wear them.. but they will be good through Summer on those cooler days and into Autumn and Winter, they'll still be appropriate wear.

I'm trying to remember if there were any more FAQs I've noticed on the rounds... If not, I might go and do a bit of knitting and catch up on some blog reading.

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day 26: Toto, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore

2010-10-29T21:18:00.000+11:00

And you know what, I'm not sure it's the 26th day of October either. But in a vain attempt to blog everyday for the month, I will "pretend" it is the 26th. That way I still have 5 days left to get my tax sorted too.

*eek* and I must get it sorted. Andy is off on yet another diving trip this week to the Coral sea. He'll be unreachable while gone, so my aim is to get it done tomorrow before he goes. He probably won't be seeing any of these little fellas, but I needed a pic and he's cute. ;) this photo comes courtesy of some of Andy's underwater footage. It's a frozen still taken from his video footage.

so as not to confuse anyone, I'll be back later to post about the Mystery KAL.

day 25: laugh laugh laugh

2010-10-26T23:11:00.001+11:00

random things that make me laugh

1. the phrase "loose purler"
Don't ask why, it's just pretty funny.

2. That Toby is so obsessed with penguins, whom he calls Happy Shit (toddler translation Happy Feet), that he pulls all the books with penguins on their spine off the book shelf to look for the penguins in them. No, he hasn't learnt after the first time.

3. That tinselling means dropping rubbish in Lily's world. I love that she is horrified whenever she sees any "tinsel" on the ground.

4. The Goodies....still.

5. the number 69 written anywhere, yes juvenile I know...

6. Withnail and I... ridiculously, until I cry, no matter that I've watched it like 5 billion times.

7. my husband's blue/black colourblindness.

8. Toby blaming Andy "Daddddd-y!!" anytime he farts.

9. The silly jokes both my children tell me.

10. Red shoes; in a happy way.

day 24: getting a leetle confused

2010-10-26T18:00:00.000+11:00

Ok, so I will be the first to admit that I am getting a little confused about what day I am up to with the Blogtober thing. I'm really not the best at knowing what the date is at the best of time, but there's something about those days in the 20s when I get really really really confuddled. And playing blogger catch-up isn't easy.

We're back from visiting the lovely pint household and as always we had the bestest time. Gosh we love those guys, I think even if Megsie wasn't my sister we'd hang out with them cos they are the best. And what an awesome little addition to their family is gorgeous little Otis ♥

We arrived home last night around 6ish, and then I hastily dashed off to my knit night. This morning involved some cleaning and unpacking, this afternoon a little playdate.

My email box is looking a little tad overwhelming today. *eek* I didn't realise there would be so many more interested in the Mystery KAL. I'm thinking about the best way to do this so it doesn't become a ridiculous amount of work... stay tuned. I shall update here..

ooh, and I think I can feel a giveaway coming on...best to squeeze one in before the end of October...along with my tax.

Day 23? Is it?

2010-10-24T20:29:00.002+11:00

So I didn't quite make it with the Milo on our four and a half hour trip. I came pretty damn close though, just had the garter stitch band to go on the bottom when we arrived at the pint household.

I think possibly I could knit one in that time on such a drive. On this drive I did however, have a little sleep. (although Andy says I was knitting in my sleep, who would have thought, I COULD ACTUALLy knit in my sleep, albeit pretty slowly apparently). I was awoken by Andy saying, "You're knitting in your sleep!" I also added a little extra length to cater for a full x, I did the hugs and kisses cable.

It is oh so very cute and tiny!! And I can hardly believe that this is actually the first milo I have knit in WOOLganics! not sure how many milos I have knit in total....

no photo yet as it's blocking...

I can share this little sneak peak photo of both the boy and girl Mystery KAL knit though ;)

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day 22: road trip

2010-10-23T09:59:00.002+11:00

Tomorrow, ok, today....

we're going on a road trip to visit that new little nephew of ours, Otis.

The challenge is to knit a newborn sizes milo in the car on the way there; yarn a ready and waiting!

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day 21: what i learnt today

2010-10-22T02:17:00.001+11:00

Never under-estimate the enthusiasm of knitters.

When I posted the sign-up last night I based my expected number of sign -ups on a thread on Rav and was expecting 80, tops. by 10 am this morning my sign up form maxed out at 200. Well, actually it kept taking sign ups but only told me about the first 200.

Throughout the day I've had a steady stream of peeps asking, begging, pleading for a spot in the KAL. Just secretly, this.freaks.me.out....lots. Idid not expect this, it's all a little daunting. Gosh, what are all these people expecting?

and you know what? I keep thinking about those people who followed the thread on Rav from the birth of the idea who may have missed out because I said the sign up would be open all week. :( To me, that's not right. So I decided tonight, I don't want them to miss out. That's not fair. Not when they may have thought they had all week to sign up. So if that's you, shoot me an email and let me know which KAL you want to do. I won't be able to get back to you straight away, I may not even get back to you before the end of the weekend as I'm going to visit my beautiful new nephew Otis, but I will get back to you. And you will be included.

And yes, I will leave the sign up open for the week, just email me as you guys have broken the sign up form.

Please be patient while I get this all sorted, the extra extra extra participants makes for a hell of a lot of extra work. It will take me a while to sort the extra stuff, and meanwhile I have a family to care for; nappies to change, washing to do, lunch and dinner to make, and perhaps even a little knitting to do.

Gotta share the knitting love around.

xxx

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Day 20: sign up

2010-10-20T23:50:00.005+11:00

ok, so here it is the sign up for the Mystery KAL.

If you have absolutely no idea what I'm talking about, then you obviously haven't been hanging out where all the cool kids do; over in my cool gang group on Ravelry. ;)

So here's roughly how it all goes.

The Mystery KAL is a Knit-a-long with a difference. You don't know what it is you're knitting, all you do know is the size you're knitting and that it is a child's garment. In the sign up you get to elect whether you want to knit a girl or boy garment.

About once a week, you will receive a small section of the pattern to knit. Slowly over the course of the KAL as you get each additional piece your garment will grow until you have a completed piece that hopefully, you will love!! Can you tell I'm a bit nervous about that bit!!!

Finer details

sign up is free.
the garment is knit in dk/8ply weight yarn on 4mm needles with a tension of 22 stitches over 4 inches/10cm.
the garment is suitable for wool, cotton or blends.
best yarn choice is solid or semi-solid, if you choose a variegated, I would suggest one that is similar in tones or colour.
both garments I would consider easy intermediate knits, featuring basic increasing and decreasing, yos, longtail castons, circular knitting, simple cables, hmm, that's all I can think of at the moment.
I shall add more approximate yardages in the next few days but to give you a rough idea it ranges between about 300 -500 yards.
Sizes covered will range from 6months up to 10 years, and correspond to the usual sizings I use.
Signups will remain open for one week.
A few days after the week is up, you will receive and email to a link to a pdf file, which will be the first step of the KAL.
Thereafter, I will post here and on my Rav group when the pdf has been updated. I will aim to send an email as well, but it would be a good idea to follow my blog so you can keep up to date with any KAL news. :) (It's a nice blog to read anyway :P)
places are limited; but I'd be totally surprised if we hit the limit this form gives us, for sure.
Any questions?
Fire away!!!!

ETA: Sign up now closed... a few more spots later this afternoon!

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day 19: a knit for me

2010-10-20T00:10:00.001+11:00

It's not often anymore that I get the time to knit a pattern other than my own. I seem to spend a great deal of my knitting time knitting prototypes and test knits for new patterns, so it's rare that I knit others'. When I do they're more often than not test knits for some of the other Aussie or enZed designers. It's even rarer that I knit something for myself.

It's not that I don't like knitting for myself. Nor am I one of those breed of knitters who fears knitting adult garments. Quite the opposite in fact. One of the first major garments I knit was as a year 9 student. It was a gigantic, and I mean FRIGGIN HUGE, big yellow cabled cardigan complete with dropped shoulders. Very very 80s. My god I loved that thing! And you know what? It won't surprise anyone who knows me well to hear that, yes, I do still have it. It's in the top of my jumper cupboard. Sometimes on really cold days when I'm just at home I drag it out and wrap up in it, and wonder at the hellish amount of seaming in that sucker.

But you know, I obviously enjoyed it because my next adult knit was another giant cabled cardigan, this time in green, but a different pattern. Sadly, I don't have this one anymore, but I can still remember exactly what it looked like. .... mmm, best not to think about it, really.

So a few months ago I managed to score some Cascade eco in a Rav destash, a ball and a half for an exceptionally reasonable price (Thanks Anna :) ) When I buy something from a destash it's quite often on a whim and I'm not always sure what I'll do with it; I tend to be lured by the pretty colours. But with this, I knew exactly what I wanted to knit. I'd been so tempted by the Tangled Yarns KAL on it a few months ago...

Rosamund's Cardigan by Andrea Pomerantz
Interweave Knits, Fall 2009

So very very unlike me I actually started it as soon as the yarn arrived. Usually when I buy jumper lots of yarn for me it seems to get shoved to the back of the cupboard where it just... I don't know.. takes up space really.

So not only did I start to knit it straight away but I also finished it in the same month. I didn't get distracted by something more shiny and new. Ok, so I wasn't monogamous but I didn't ever completely discard it, like I so often do with adult knits... Honestly, these days it's like I have some sort of inbuilt calendar that says I can't finish one without a lengthy hibernation stay.

but this one I did finish quickly.

And best of all, I wear it. LOTS.
I so love this!!!

The one thing I would do if I knit it again would be to leave out the hip increases. It's supposed to have little hooks and eyes and do up all the way up, but I like it left open much better. The hip increases don't really make for a flattering line when worn open...sometimes I think I might frog and fix it...just sometimes, you know.

so the specs for this little beauty:

Pattern Rosamund's Cardigan by Andrea Pomerantz

Yarn Cascade Yarns Ecological Wool, in 'Nightvision' colourway. 640 yards (1.34 skeins - yes, very precise there)

Needles 4mm and 5mm nickel Knit Picks

Mods
Worked two less increases in the raglan to scale the pattern down to fit me by an inch or so
Worked the waist shaping a little lower than per pattern
Added an extra buttonhole for better visual balance
Worked extra length
Knit the armhole bands circularly instead of flat

Excuse the sun-in-eyes squint which makes me look a bit hungover or stoned. I'd have my sunglasses on but the little boy aggressively pulled one of the arms off them. That's the exact same fate for the last two pair of sunglasses, same scenario, different child. Good thing we only have two children.

day 18: spring clean

2010-10-18T22:45:00.000+11:00

Today i indulged in a little bit of work avoidance; avoided the vacuuming, avoided tackling the washing and folding, avoided quite a bit of housework by finding a far more urgent job that needed my attention....

a bit of a spring clean to my blog .

new banner, cleaner background, a bit more "space".

I said goodbye to the fabric addict. I'm still a fabric addict, total ho really, but given there's so much more knitting on this blog now I thought it was time to go. Next I might register a domain name...maybe, if I can get that organised.

It feels fresh for me, just right for Spring.
I hope you like it too.

maybe now the Spring weather will finally come back and stay.

day 17: stealing 5 minutes

2010-10-18T12:53:00.001+11:00

I'm taking one of those five minute gaps that appear in your day, when you're a mummy, to steal five minutes for me. I'm using my time to catch up on yesterday's blog post. I'm not so good at this blogtober thing, am I? I am trying though!

I'm perched on the bench in the corner of the kitchen looking west. The sky furiously hurling darker and darker clouds across it, no doubt bringing more rain. The tree ferns are dancing a frantic jig outside the window, they look like they're shivering. Why is winter back?

I have this five minutes as Andy has packed the kids into the bike trailer to take Lily to kinder. The two of them will be tucked up snug hidden from the rain while Andy, in his flouro orange bike parka, will be battling this wind. They love it!

Right now I'm off to get out of my jammies, and have a shower... wait for it.... BY MYSELF!! with no little toddler in there too. Then it's on with the vacuuming, and washing, and folding...

Where do you steal five minutes for yourself in the day?

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day 16-ish, sort of, well, let's just pretend, ok....

2010-10-18T00:50:00.000+11:00

Gosh, I just love this photo.

I'm ever so proud of this photo I took of Lily today. You would not believe from this photo how incredibly hard it is to get a good photo of her, you wouldn't believe how many I have to take of her to get a couple of good shots. She is the original flipperty jibbiert, the arms go up, she spins around, opens the mouth wide, kicks her legs up, pretends to fly, grimaces, jumps around, pulls her dress up and flashes her bum at me, sticks her tongue out, looks up at the sky, and generally just goes a little silly when the camera comes out.

The purpose of this photo was to try and capture this test knit in progress for my testers who will be starting on theirs in the next days. How exciting!!!

The only problem is that I really wasn't able to capture this, the babydoll petal, perfectly. Have a careful look at this:

Notice that hemline?
See how it's pulling in, rather than out (as a ruffle should). Notice the stitch marker, the knitting cable ends; all holding the garment together while it waits to be finished... yep, this is one of the knitting dangerously results. Pretty yarn, isn't it? It comes from Never Ending Obsessions

And some more gorgeous shots of my Lily Rainbow. Man she blows me away with her gorgeousness some times!!

LOVE LOVE LOVE this!

and this..

gee, she's getting so all grown up!

day 15: late again, oh well.........

2010-10-16T21:11:00.002+11:00

Last night I had a bit of a night out. One where I didn't get home until after midnight. Yeah I know, madness!! Anarchic. It's the reason my post last night didn't get done. The fact that I'm only doing it now, I can only put down to pure laziness... And an almost two-year-old who hogs the iPad.

but last night I went to Lily's kindy's trivia night. It was a fun night, laughter, drinks and nibbles all round. Some stretching of the memories, some uncertainty and some definite certainties that were wrong. You know how trivia nights go.

The highlight of the night for me was the artwork that the kids produced. Beautiful group work on canvas. One piece was divided into squares into which each of the children had drawn themselves. Each of the two classes created one of these. The other piece Lily's class made, it was an amazing Aboriginal inspired piece in lovely bright colours with the kids' handprints around the outside. It was wonderful to see how appreciated and wanted these pieces were by the parents, they went for more than I had in my purse and could afford.

We're very blessed with the kindy we chose for Lily. Under the guidance of her wonderful wonderful teachers she has blossomed and grown in such confidence it's amazing. They encourage her artistically and creatively and create such wonderful playspaces for the children. All three of her teachers are truly beautiful souls.

What I did come home with was this:

That's a bundle gorgeous gorgeous organic fabrics from Organic Fabric Online. I had just enough money in my purse to win the bid on this. Lily thought it was wonderful that I won some fabric, the yellow is already assigned as a dress for her. So impressed was she that she organized a knitting competition for me tonight, a shawl knitting competition. It was a tough field I was up against Gwyneth the teddy bear and Darfodill the Polly Dolly. I suspect the field had been checking out my knitting though, as the shawls they produced for the "test" looked suspiciously like two I've knitted before. Strange! The guinea pig judge awarded me the winner. My winnings were some beautiful pictures of us all at the beach.

Kids are precious, hey.

(back later with today's post ;) )

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day 14: creative space

2010-10-14T12:56:00.002+11:00

I was sort of looking forward to the return to the school term, looking forward to slowing down a little and not having quite so many people in the house needing me all the time. Andy was supposed to fly north last week for a spearfishing charter but it was canceled in the holidays, so he was not a happy man these holidays. Because of this trip we decided not to go away any where too major. So I was looking forward to a little space around here again, some time to contend with just me and the little man.. that small window every Thursday where Toby sleeps in the afternoon and the place is quiet and I can do what I like.

Clearly I was delusional. The return to school has been nothing like that!!! It has been one complete crazy week and a half of pure bedlam. I feel like today is the first time I've even had a chance to draw breath. (Of course, Toby is not asleep).

So today, housework sort of done, I'm sitting down to have a bit of quiet-ish (well as quiet as it gets with an-almost two year old running around) time. Enjoy a cup of love chai and work on a little pattern.

My tea cup is a new one that Andy bought me this week. It's the perfect size but not quite what I'd choose. I'm always amazed at how different Andy thinks my taste in things like cups is to what it actually is. If you're reading this Andy, red is nice, plain is nice, spots even... Oh well, I'll love it regardless.

This all looks quite peaceful and relaxing but take a look what happened as I stepped back to take this photo.

hmm, sometimes I think the iPad is just a little too user-friendly!

for more creative space pop over to kootoyoo

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day 13: more on the yarn search

2010-10-14T00:47:00.003+11:00

I like organic yarn.

No, let me rephrase that I LOVE organic yarn.

Choosing organics and the green option is really important to me, so wherever possible I like to choose organic yarn. Sometimes if I see a yarn and it is organic i do find it hard to resist buying it, even if I don't really need it. It's worse if it's on sale.

I am lucky enough to regularly knit with WOOLganics Knitters Yarn. If you haven't heard me say it before, let me just say, this is the number one supremo yarn in the world. It is my yarn of choice. It is so buttery soft and melty, it is pure bliss to knit with. In fact, tonight I cast on that blue that you saw in the photo last night, which is the WOOLganics in the Raindrops. Funnily enough, I found another random ball of this today, so that game of yardage chicken is probably off.

I have to say, the other side of the equation and the organic cotton option hasn't been as easy to come by. When I think about yarn and cotton production, it's possible that using an organic cotton is perhaps even more fundamentally important. So my new little yarn search is for the perfect organic cotton. Again, it must be a dk/8ply weight. So far, the contenders are the ecoyarns organic cotton(pictured above), which feels lovely but as yet I haven't knit with it.

Another contender is the Rowan Purelife Organic cotton

Gloriously, gloriously soft. And the colours are pretty lovely (these are destined to become a skirt). What I love about the Rowan and the Ecoyanrs is that both these cottons are dyed using natural dyes.

And today I got my hands on some Sublime Organic cotton. mmm, also very nice. Shame it's being discontinued. And something to look forward to is Heirloom's organic range this summer.

All these options to try now mean I really really need to avoid that Bendigo sale that's due at the end of this month. I do not need stock up on BWM cotton. These organic options mean I do not need to buy BWM cotton (gotta keep telling myself that)

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day 12: the mystery knit

2010-10-13T00:24:00.002+11:00

Did I tell you the mystery knit is finished?
Did I tell you I'm very excited about it?

so excited I thought I'd show you a bit of a preview pic.....

well, the knit is in there ;)

I love it when the bubbas are happy to just sleep anywhere. Tonight Toby was curled up on my lap having a feed all drowsy and dozy. He hopped off and wandered off, I assumed to the next room to climb in bed with Daddy. Five minutes later I looked behind me and found him curled up on my blocked knitting asleep.

Good thing there were no pins in it!!
Good thing for him it was already dry!!!

The colour is soooo gorgeous, and hopefully this picture tells you nothing at all except that it is yellow and knit in stocking stitch. hehehehe This is fun!!!!

See the WOOLganics balls in the front... I'm thinking about playing a bit of yardage chicken with them tomorrow...Right after I visit Twisted Threads, my LYS for their sale!!! I'll be picking up some Sublime organic cotton, me thinks ;)

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day 11: mondayitis

2010-10-12T17:08:00.001+11:00

Oops! but I really did think about posting...honestly!!!

does a cute sleeping bubba photo make up for it????

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Day 10: Lazy Sunday

2010-10-11T01:20:00.001+11:00

We've had a gloriously lazy Sunday filled with Sunshine. Oh how I love these first heady days of Spring!!!!

I spent the afternoon knitting and watching Lily boss her father around, making him play dress ups. He's always a reluctant participant but she always manages to charm him into it and before he knows it,he's following her around dressed in some outlandish costume. I like that he doesn't question the fact that there are adult male outfits in the dress up box!

Lily then decided to join me for a bit of crafting. She knit her obligatory five stitches for the month, and then had a bit of a play with her sewing basket...she didn't achieve much but sure looked cute.

Don't you just love her outfit? I mean, who doesn't sew in their pettiskirt? The tshirt is one of mine, as is obvious from the G. It's a cute little hobbytex one from the 70s. Love it!!!!!

The knitting has gone super. I have churned out the mystery KAL prototype. I've tried it on Toby, whom it was cute on albeit a little too long, but not Lily yet. I have one small section to go and it's done. Wooot!!!!!

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day 9: ahem....

2010-10-10T09:25:00.001+11:00

So the knitting is going very well and I'm much happier with this garment than I was with the other one. I think this is probably more suited to a mystery KAL as I can break it down into steps far easier than the other one; which will make it fun!!

No pics though as that would ruin the surprise!!!

In case you're wondering what the heck I'm talking about, a little background: on the forum where I test some of the designers were having a little chat and the idea arose for a mystery KAL, mainly because Shannon of Crafty Desires wanted to knit a skirt pattern of mine that I haven't even knit up yet and she hasn't seen the photos for!!! Crazy chick!! (The temptation is oh-so there to write a pattern for something really fugly and give it to her as a joke.... if only it wasn't for the loads of time that goes into knitting something) The brainchild for the Mystery KAL came from Rachel Evan, who's responsible for the Kaia Babydoll and Spring Butterfly.

So I put the idea to my group on Rav thinking there might be a handful of people interested.

So now I just have to sort the pattern... but it's all okay as I'm waiting on one of my knitters to come back from holidays to start the KAL... so really no pressure!

(but it is looking good good good) and this yarn (The Sanguine Gryphon FreeRange) is pretty awesome to knit with. Not buttery soft and melty like the WOOLganics, but still very very nice and lovely subtlety in the colour variations.

day 8: a little late

2010-10-09T13:22:00.001+11:00

I'm a little late posting day 8 but I'm sure it's still the 8th of October somewhere in the world still, so technically I'm not really late; just feeling a little...I don't know, what country is in the last world time frame for each day?? Yep, so no doubt I'll continue to trot out that excuse.

I had an early night last night. I was feeling a bit pissed with my current knitting project, which is a new pattern for a KAL. I decided at 10pm that I wasn't happy with how it was working and cracked it. I must say I was feeling a little pressure at the people who are waiting for this KAL, but decided that really it wasn't quite right. I know I can get the pattern to work eventually, but I don't think it is quite the right one for the KAL. So off to bed I went.

Luckily I had an inkling of a back up plan. As it does often the plan formed more thoroughly overnight and I woke up this morning knowing exactly what I needed.
Don't you love it when sleeping on an idea really does sort it all into place.

So on to a little bit of yarn balling...

Wish me luck!

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day seven: from a non-creative space

2010-10-07T23:55:00.001+11:00

I had one of those days, no crafting or creativity. Completely drained.

But I do have hugs.

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6: Knitting dangerously

2010-10-06T16:05:00.001+11:00

My WIP basket is looking like this at the moment:

Two almost, oh-so very close to finished garments, that only have four or five cms left of the hem to go. But unfinished.

All because I knit dangerously. *scoff scoff* *ho ho*
And I NEVER learn from my near disasters not to.

How does one knit dangerously?
Well, I engage in a little game that my fellow designer and friend, Shannon, has termed, playing yardage chicken. I like that.

So what is yardage chicken?
It's pushing your yardage to the limit, flirting with danger and seeing just how far that ball of yarn will go. so why do it? Is it the tightarse in me, not wanting to see yarn go to waste? Possibly.
But you know, there's this awesome little rush of adrenalin you get when you finish a garment and you've won that yardage game and have a couple of metres left. It's a strange sort of kick I'm sure only knitters understand.

I've always played this game. Original rainbow dress, yardage left over mmm, maybe 30cm. Same with the Oriental Lily, and to be honest most rainbow dresses I've ever knit. I've even had to find some matching yarn scraps because I've lost the game and run out on the cast off.

Lately I've had a few near disasters with yardage chicken. At one stage, it seemed every test knit was becoming a flirtation with danger.

the dolly cassia: lost
tobias: lost
acacia singlet: should have lost but cast off a little shorter than it should be (shh)
darwinia baby doll: lost
darwinia sundress: lost

hmm, so with so many losses going on, why don't I learn? Because in every one of these situations, disaster has been diverted.

Dolly cassia and tobias, both knit in WOOLganics, ordered more yarn.
Darwinia baby doll: the dyer is dyeing me some more yarn. She's even had me send her a metre or so of the stuff I have so she can match it better.
Darwinia sundress: Now this could have been a total disaster, BWM have discontinued the colour I'm knitting this in. But you know what, I put a call out on Ravelry, a desperate one albeit, and a yarn fairy is coming to my rescue, so this little baby will be finished.

Lucky? Flukey? Assy?
Who knows.
But you know, until I experience complete and unretrievable yardage disasters, I'm probably still going to flirt with it dangerously. It's just too tempting.

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day 5: testing a new pattern

2010-10-05T22:29:00.000+11:00

I've just spent the last little while setting up my little private testing forum and granting all my testers access . Which all means I'm just about to start testing a new pattern.

This one is called Acacia. It's a two petal pattern that is part of my Australian wildflower collection. It's a pretty quick little knit that looks like this:

or if you're feeling a little adventurous, this:

So far I've graded this pattern from sizes 1 -10, suitable for an 8ply/dk weight yarn. It will work with cotton, wool, bamboos, blends; etc. Just about any yarn composition really. At the moment I'm knitting a delicious newborn size in 4ply (awwww, uber cute) I thought the baby sizes would be better in a 4ply as the gathering will work better across the bodice in a 4 ply where I can factor in two sets, whereas with an 8ply only one set. Makes sense?

I was thinking about this cute little newborn singlet and wondering if the baby arriving this month at the pint household will be a girl or a boy. What I will be knitting for this little one all depends on the sex!

Anyway, seen as I'm testing all through this month, I'll probably be updating pretty regularly with the progress of this patterns... I'll probably run out of things to talk about otherwise...

four: perfection

2010-10-05T01:00:00.001+11:00

I am on a little bit of a quest at the moment.

It's a quest for perfection.
Perfection in the form of yarn.
Perfection, more specifically, in the form of the perfect yellow yarn. Dk weight preferably. Organic would be the ultimate.

Now what makes the perfect yellow yarn?
It needs to be the colour of sunshine, no pastels, no neons, no orange or brown undertones; just pure sunshine.

This comes pretty close on all counts.
(sanguine gryphon free range dk)

It's dk, it's organic and it is very lush!

As does this, except it's not a dk or organic:(
(malabrigo worsted)

this one would win hands down, except it's not organic.
(Madeline tosh dk)

This is pretty close too; organic, lovely colour. Local organic even, yet a 10 ply.
(Ladybug Loops WOOLganics worsted)

Now what to knit with all this luscious yellow?
(nb: these are not all new!!!!)

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day three: musing about finishing

2010-10-03T23:18:00.000+11:00

Is it somewhat ironic or bizarre that at the very beginning of this blogging marathon that is Blogtoberfest I am already waxing lyrical about finishing? Perhaps so, but anyway that's what you're getting today, or rather tonight at precisely 11pm.

There's nothing quite like the sense of finishing when it comes to knitting. Except perhaps the elation of starting something new, which explains the embarrassing state of my WIP basket. But finishing brings with it that little rush of adrenalin, and those anxious moments wonderings of will it fit, will they like it or even does it work. That excitement is even more heightened when it's something that's taken a while to knit.

tTis is one of those stories.

Meet Tobias, so named for the cheeky little boy it was intended to adorn. A sweet little cardigan with a touch of leprechaun (yep, you read correct) knit in what is becoming my staple yarn, WOOLganics.
Can I just say, I LOVE LOVE LOVE this green just a wee bit muchly!

I started this little cardigan last September, with the intention of finishing it on our two week holiday in Tassie. There was a bit of driving involved and I was knitting a 12 month size so it really was quite a reasonable aim. The lengths I went to to knit this cardie will have non-knitters backing away uncomfortably and pointing and whispering "weird". I flew to Tassie with the kids and spent a night in a motel while Andy came over on the boat. A night in a motel equals ample knitting time. One problem. We were flying Jetstar light, which meant only carry on baggage and at that time in history, no knitting needles allowed. You would not believe the far fetched and ridiculous ideas I came up with to get my needles to Tassie. Luckily a fellow knitter came to the rescue and dropped some tips at the motel I was staying at for me, so all I needed to bring was my yarn and cable.

I almsot finished Tobias in Tassie, all bar a sleeve. Then I tried it on him. Too small. bugger.
So, I threw it into the corner in disgust.

Obviously, I picked it up again and finished it. Otherwise, I probably wouldn't be writing about it. But it did take me until all of September school holidays this year to do so. I think I finished two days before the one year mark.

I like. Toby likes. so we're all happy...
I particularly like the little pockets in it, they're real little boy pockets.
now I've just got to grade the pattern.

And of course, then Toby cut his hair just as I wanted photos.... so I'm not sure about this photo. It seems almost a bit of a piss-take to be honest. There's something about it that seems incredibly funny to me, maybe the pure stupidity of the hat and the crazy overly innocent I've-just-come-down-from-up-a -chimney look on the kid's face???

Blogtoberfest. ~ day 2 (somewhere in the world)

2010-10-03T08:02:00.002+11:00

Whoops!
So I'm not quite on top of this blogtober thing yet and almost forgot my day two post! Lucky I live in the southern hemisphere, so technically it is still October 2nd somewhere in the world!

We took the kiddies out for Chinese at our local last night, which is always loads of fun and an experiential eating experience for them. It's walking distance which makes it even better, though I'm not surer why it always seems to be the five year old hitching a ride in the pram at the end of the night and the not-yet two year old walking. Hmmm.

We were all so tuckered out we were all asleep by 10pm. That would be a first (and totally my excuse for forgetting my blog post). Chose the right night for an early one though, as I noticed DST ticked over, so it's an hour later than it normally would be. So of course, I'm bright eyed and awake now and have been for about an hour. Not that I'm out of bed, nooooooooooo! Not when I've got a cute little baby boy to snuggle with.

Mmm, not getting up to get my camera so the photo this morning is one of my favs from our recent trip to "the block".

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Location:From bed

Blogtober ~ Day One (some firsts for the first)

2010-10-02T00:03:00.001+10:00

I noticed that it was Blogtober again while mindlessly cruising today whilst feeding Toby. It seems quite timely really, and a good kick up the bum for me to whip this blog back into shape and try and regain some blogging mojo.

It's been a week of firsts here this week.

Toby got his first haircut and went from this:

to this

after he decided to hack off half his fringe in an asymmetrical fashion.
He looks so grown up, my little boy :(
At least he still loves cuddles and asking "more kisses" every time he gies you a kiss. He's going to break some hearts when he grows up that one!

Lily's first was having her ears pierced. We'd always decided that she could have her ears pierced if she wanted once she was five. We'd talked about it a few times when she was younger with her and decided at five she could make the decision for herself. It's taken until this week for her to work up the courage to go for it. We had talks about how it would hurt a bit, she didn't have to, and if she changed her mind when we got there, that would be ok.

But she bravely faced up to it and went for it. There were quite a few tears afterwards and loads of cuddles. She too looks so grown up with her shiny silver diamond studs!

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School holidays

2010-09-20T14:11:00.000+10:00

Well, it's school holidays, which I'm not sure is a blessing or a punishment.

Anyway, hopefully there will be plenty of sunshine, good times with the kiddies and of course, a tad of knitting.

I've been busy so far and shall share some photos once it's dry and on the boy. Yep, it's a boy knit. Wooot!

A new pattern - Cassia

2010-09-10T20:30:00.000+10:00

I must admit I always get a little nervous when I release a pattern. Sometimes I just sit on it, because I am so nervous. It's a funny feeling, the anticipation of a pattern release. Particularly when there are knitters who are apparently eager and waiting for its release. That really blows me away. It's also quite daunting and I think adds to the nervousness.

What if they don't like it after all?

What if no one buys it?

What if my testers were just being nice to me, and really it's a crap pattern?

What if there is a major mistake in it I've somehow overlooked?

All these crazy thoughts play through my mind on days like this.

It's on days like this, that I've obviously released a new pattern.

Today's offering is Cassia.

It's yet another seamlessly constructed garment that can be knit as either a dress or a tunic. It's knit topdown starting from a circular yoke, and seriously is probably one of my easiest knits. Unlike many circular yoke patterns, the increasing through the yoke section is all worked out for you. You don't have to manually work any increase rows, just follow the pattern. And like all my paid patterns, the sizes are colour coded to make it even easier.

Just quietly, I do so love this dress. It is knit in the most gorgeous coloured WOOLganics organic merino 8ply. The colourway is 'kundalini' and in the month of August I managed to knit my way through a 10 pack of this colourway, it's so gorgeous. I wish I'd done the tunic version in the WOOLganics too now.

The sizes for the cassia start at newborn size (15 inch chest) and go right up to a girls size 12 (30 inch chest) with sizings in one inch increment. Cassia is fitted style through the chest, fitting with approximately 1 inch positive ease.

It fastens at the back with three cute little buttons. I love these ones here, though you can't quite see them.
See that glorious red flower though, that's a cassia gum flower. Gorgeous, huh?

It's available on Rav right now for a measly $6AUD, or you can click this button here to purchase.

If you don't have paypal, feel free to pm me on Ravelry or send me an email via tikkijane@gmail.com and I can organise a direct deposit payment for you (Australian bank account holders only).

some testing knits

2010-09-10T00:47:00.000+10:00

sometimes I knit other people's patterns.

I think it's something that as a designer, is really quite essential. You learn new techniques, ponder different constructions, and become more aware of all the different styles of pattern writing, and yes indeed, there are more than one style.

Last week I finished an adult knit for me, the construction was pretty familiar to me, top down raglan construction, ok, so I do that sort of thing in my sleep. But it was fun nonetheless, and has me pondering the beauty of reversible cables. I don't have any shots of it, as despite having bought the buttons on Monday, I haven't sewn them on yet.

I think I may only have one of the three left. A certain little boy may have stolen the other two.

This winter I've also been lucky enough to test a few projects for fellow designers. That is always so much fun. As a designer, I love having other designers on board to test. It's always interesting to see how they approach their pattern development, and it is always good to have those extra brains geared towards that aspect of the pattern.

So a few of my favourites I've tested this winter have been:

The Flapper Dress by Shannon Passmore.

Little Hoodlum by Julia Stanfield.

Epicene by Sheryl Greenfield.

Breezy by Shannon Passmore.

(pattern not yet released)

You might notice that there is only one sock finished.

It is true that five year olds are not very understanding of second sock syndrome.

This week I have been guilt tripped into finishing that second sock.

It is working.