Whats on my needles?

So i thought i'd let you in on some pics of some WIP's i have .... soon to be completed!

Blue Jeans Baby!!

Using the yarn Kristy dyed in the Naki Scavenger hunt

Dolce Toddler Socks

From some sample yarn in my Blendy Box

And Becas Dress - now this i'm so proud of - I LOVE it!!

Yarn from our latest Naki Swap

Although finishing them seems to be dragging at the moment .. oops

knitting I've been up to lately

So its not quite a year since I started knitting and I have to say with a great bunch of motivated women you can't help but stay on the wagon, chugging along creating some great items for the wee ones in this house. Here are some photos of what I've been creating lately - Full details are on Ravelry :)

Firstly some swaps i was in:

TNN #1 in 2010 .. i got this Foliage Package ... Yummy LOVE it! you'll see it knitted below ;)

TNN #1 2010 - I sent this Lavender Package

Naki #4 Scavenger Hunt - The package i put together for Julia

Naki #4 Scavenger Hunt the package i got from Kristy - Tim Tams all gone .... and still patting the wool to see what it wants to be .... mmmmmmm lovely semi solid

Gems Hat for Emma

Hoodie for Beca .... i LOVE this!!

Emmas Milo

First Dishcloth

Rebeccas Stripy Pants

Emmas Hand Warmers

Rebeccas Hand Warmers

Beca's Longies are finished!!

Really LOVE knitting this pattern .. this time I magic looped 2 legs at once .. was great to have finished when i got to the bottom of the legs

Love how the wool has knitted up - certainly are original - if you remember back to the First Naki Yarn Swap this is the wool that Trudi gave me!

Look great -- silly me let the sun on them when they were blocking so the front is a touch yellowed :( … But they fit great! .. touch to long so folding up the hem - but that means they will certainly last all winter! WOOHOO

… now planing a avocado hoodie to match YUM!

and of course Ravlery details

TNN Fav Book Yarn Swap

Back in December I participated in the Favourite Book Yarn Swap on TNN:

This is the parcel that I sent to the lovely Jo and she loves it ;)

It was made up from the book series The Sword of Truth - to a theme taken from the main characters - Ps i love you

100g Vintage Purls Sock Yarn hand steam/pot dyed with powdered food colourings - Blue, Purple/Violet & Red

Added were hand made gifts of:

• A chocolate and pink WIP bag
• Beaded heart stitch markers
• A photo frame magnet

Patterns were:
True Love Socks
Falling in Love Socks
Cats Love Sweaters

Can’t wait to see it knitted up!

... And the parcel i received:

Based on The Whole of the moon http://www.amazon.com/Whole-Moon-Duncan-Stuart/dp/1877135054

"the power of friendship can provide the strength to survive"

Paperwork: Homemade Ginger Kisses Recipe

Pattern: Traveling woman by Liz Abinante http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/traveling-woman

Yarn: 100g 4ply merino dyed with mainly red food colouring in different strengths with a bit of purple thrown in for good measure.

Sebs Looking Glass Longies

They're done - and i love them! - can't wait to cast some on for Beca for next winter (need to finish her summer dress first - only sewing to do on it :)

Ravelry Link

My first attempt at Longies for a Xmas Pressie for my nephew :) - I used the Looking Glass longies Pattern which is a really Great pattern Kelly xx

I Crocheted cord – a few woopsies but thats all learning and my adjustemt could have been better - i’ve added button holes and buttons so they can be buttoned up as shorties - but my positioning isn’t perfect - will note for next time not to put a button hole at the start of the row but 1/4 the way round then 3/4 the way round (K2TOG YO)

I love this idea though as it would make the pants grow with Seb as well - just by moving the button position :) - we put them on him last night for button adjustment - and they look great!

Modeled here on my just over 2 1/2 yr old - cheeky girl! ((please excuse her Freddo frog tattoo)

S is for Sunday ...

and Sewing, Swaps, Scrap booking, Sunshine and Spinning!

And that's how i have filled my day!

Now the Sewing i can't share as it is for another Yarn Swap I'm doing on TNN - and this time i promised to be a secret squirl! but i do have to say its not bad considering how long it has been since I've sewen more than just long straight lines on the edges of blankets :)

The Scrap booking is in the last post, and the Spinning well! ... Here you go Kate ;)


Now The top one was the result of a quick blending play Kate had on the Drum Carder that i have spun into a thick and thin yarn and the Warm Yellow/brown/orange and red one is the fleece i dyed and hand Carded (1st try at hand carding) then spun and plyed with some brown/grey - it hasn't come out to badly if i do say so myself :)

Lastly the sunshine - what a lovely day! made our sea view even more enjoyable when i had a moment to stop and enjoy it today which was also a big day for Beca as she tackled a bit of banana (she was soo over Mash) :)

todays fun ...

Firstly heres my spinning that i've done lately - slowly getting better :)



What a long day - but between a child that wouldn't sleep and has just had an alround shitty day and her big sister who really drives me nuts at times look what we did!

This hank is actually 50% acylic / 50% wool - dyed with Cake gels and powdered food colouring



and heres some fleece that i have dyed ready to play with some hand carders with

Blogtober is past .. but check out these blogs!

SO Blogtober is over, and i managed 31 posts in October - although it didn't end up being one each day it was still a large task!

and you think I'd be blogged out but no check out these Blogs I've stumbled upon:

Little observations of everyday life - card making and sock knitting

U-handbag - Great bag tutorials!

Yarnmonster - this is a great wee drawstring bag tutorial (one I'm planning on using soon)

In other news:
- I need to learn how to sew a nappy since i signed up for my first Nappy swap
- I've also entered another Naki Yarn Swap 'desserts' this time
- Since my new hobby of Spinning i have also joined a fibre swap! .. Exciting!!

Naki Yarn Swap #1 - 'Kiwiana'

Click the pic for a clearer image :)

.. Well what a blast last night was! (so much so that we have already planned #2 'Desserts')

i decided that when i got home @ 10.40 last night it was too late to update you all (sorry)

Now for a parcel by parcel description head to Sheryl's blog here: Shortly Stitches and Hannah's blog here: Rainbow Child

It was another lovely evening with such a great group of inspirational woman! ..... but i wonder who's going to get their Yarn Swap goodies on the needles first?

oh and i can't put in words how much i love my wool - Trudi did a great job! Perfect Rocky Road!

And here is the swap i did for Sheryl ... Yip i was the one that couldn't help but share my first sock yarn dying experience - i promise to behave next time! Yarn closeup

DISASTER!!!!

being a lovely fine day with Beca down for a sleep i decided to finish mowing the lawn - Emma normally just watches and plays with dolly so i wasn't to worried ... until i came in and found this:


Yes i have learnt that my little girl loves wool as much as me ... i just wish it wasn't this one she decided to 'knit' -- yes when i came in and asked her what she was doing .... "coz i'm just knitting mummy"



Yes that is my Paua Yarn swap yarn!


I'm beside myself and don't even know where to start untangling this mess

Crafty Saturday

So this afternoon I spent some time with some lovely friends of mine - the craft of the hour was yarn and dying yarn for our TNN Naki swap ... all i can say is that there is some lovely yarn being made and dyed for this swap - what a lucky bunch of ladies we are! ... and the due date is slowly rolling around - 27th October -- but mines ready to go so its going to be a wee wait for me.

Heres the yarn i've done - anyone wanna guess the Kiwiana theme for it?








There's plenty of crafty things to do while i wait though - I've set a deadline of next Saturday to get Emmas Summer dress done by - and I'm half way through the knitted bodice so it should be a goal that will be easily obtained. ... and on that not I'm going to get back to it - i must have spent to long scrolling though Rav - add that to surfing Blogtober blogs tonight making my Eyes are 'screen tired'

I can dye a Rainbow!

WOW ... I'm really impressed with this one! .. rainbow was my favourite colour in high school :rolleyes:!


So .. what else is there to do on a wet Sunday morning but dye some wool! Yip crazy me decided to grab a ball from stash - wrap it around and around my chair legs tie it in sections then syringe paint it and wrap it in plastic the Nuke it ... Well points to note for next time:

1. Make sure the kids are not requiring love for 30 minutes or so
2. Nuke in containers instead of all the effort with glad wrap
3. Glad wrap and I are not friends!
4. No little helpers required

All in all though I'm over the moon with the results! .. there was a bit of leaking from the darks onto the lights but its not too noticeable i don't think


Now to wait til it drys and find a pattern to knit it up into .... oh now i remember this is the part that takes soo long!


.... in other news i should get onto dying the yarn for my yarn swap .. but maybe I'll just attack the paperwork for it this afternoon :)

Pics of the days Progess

So here we are:

Firstly my hand dyed yarn - was poo yellow now yummy and bright .. and was only $2 for 50grams 8 ply in the bargin bin at spotlight



Secondly the Vege Garden -

Before



and .. dun da da dun dun dun .... After





We will in time fill the boxes with soil/compost but to keep the cost to a minimum this year we are just planting in the bottom. The seedlings in already are Silver beet, Cauli and Broccoli + Some Carrots and Potatoes in the paddock - as Mark Read that you shouldn't water Carrots - so we trying that this year.



Oh and have i shared My Mary Janes? ... my mission tonight is to finish them


But finally i must share our sunset ... Have i told you i love our new place hehe