Knitting: Naki #6 Yarn Swap

Yip another swap - they are just so much fun!

Our local knitting group is such a wonderful group of lovely supportive ladies (and the odd husband that appears at supper time and then usually slips away again ;) )

Its so great as a stay at home mum, to have deserved time out together and have like-minded people to lend an ear when needed or most importantly to be an ear for others - something I've learn't in recent years is you just never know how much its appreciated xx

So with our weekly catchup between sharing laughs and a great time not only do we enjoy the odd block of chocolate and some amazing baking - we also have Swap nights and this post is all about #6

This time out theme was : Fairytales .. i love this wee 'blurb' Nyree wrote for this swap

.... according to The Naki Folklore

Once upon a time, far far away (The Naki) lived a beautiful flock of women. These beautiful woman needed beautiful things. What could be more beautiful than fine yarns and gifts you say? Well my dears....fine yarns hand dyed none the less and gifts chosen carefully by crafting sisters of the beautiful women. Legend has it that these crafting sisters set to work searching high and low across many lands and seas (ay Laura!) to find many perfect things for the beautiful women. These gifts will one day be revealed to those who wait with only the most reserved patience. The date set for this shall be the 5th October 2010.

Heres my swap I received from Laura

Theme: Sleeping Beauty

Included was:

-200g Little Wool Company Handyed Tower Vines … (maybe longies for beca?)
- A Handmade Spindle (WOW)
- 110g Fibre Roving - merino, silk, glitter mix YUMMO!!!! - will be spun with a scarf for me in mind (YAY)
- little bottle of Jacobs Creek Bubbles (saving that for a lovely summer evening)

Thanks Laura its lovely - i do love this picture its crisp and rich green reminding me of the spring grass growth Lilly goat is enjoying out in the sun today.

And the swap i put together:

Was for Lizzie the fairytale she chose was Hansel & Gretel, i had a lot of fun with this one thinking about how to include aspects of the story and suit it to her family - seems it was well received as her little boy is a bit under the weather so an activity book was a great distraction xxx

I included:

- 200g Bendigo Classic handyed in ‘Candyland’

- Kiddie Cookie Mix Jar

- Bread Trail Stitch Markers

- Sweet Rainbow Little Girl Clippies

- Hansel & Gretel’s Little Boy Activity Book & Pens

- ‘A pocket full of Pebbles’ stones

which Emma collected and wanted to add to ‘Mummys house box for Lizzie’ :)

Love these cookie jars - may have to remember this for presents heading into the festive season

The yarn is dyed with food colouring, fixed with vinegar can't wait to see how it knits up ... am thinking of trying some acid dyes in the future but do like the 'safe' aspect of the non toxic option.

There were about 8/10 ish other people in the swap and the parcels were just so great, i really love seeing what people come up with heres some links to them:

Kate's Blog

Sheryls Blog

Hannahs Blog

Mail Call: TNN Yarn Lovers Swap Box

In this swap you can take one thing from a box of goodies and replace it then send on to the next person on the list.

After much time and effort drooling, patting and imagining the possibilities - I took out some lovely Vintage Purls sock yarn and a needle for socks - however i'm not sure if this will end up as socks or a scarf yet ......

Yarn is a bit brighter in real life - now to wait for round two ......

Naki Swap #5 - Fat Quarter Themed

So last night was Swap night at Knitting ... oh how I LOVE swaps!!

Our brief was: FAT QUARTER SWAP

The Draw: Tues 18 May - Wrap 1 fat quarter with your name and any important info inside (eg: must have 8ply or make something with the fa

t quarter) We'll draw fat quarters to use for our swap. If you want to parti

cipate but can't make the date, just let me know and I'll sort it out. The Swap: 100g 4ply/200g 8ply Gift worth approx $5 + stuff from stash if you want. You can use the fat quarter if you want, but there is no obligation to, if you don't make anything from it, j

ust return it with the swap. Reveal date end of June

And as usual there was some amazing parcels that had been put together! and new skills learnt. It was my job to be photographer of the night so here are some the swaps:

For Laura from Angela

For Lizzie from Sheryl

For Angela from Kate

For Julia from Laura

For Kristy from Julia

For Kate from Me (Sam)

For Me (Sam) from Lizzie

For Sheryl from Kristy

All stunning!

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

Earflap Hat

Cute wee Beca ... and a hat i whipped up in 48 hrs!!! (no i wasn't knitting for 48 hours!)

Ravlery Link - with details :)

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

Naki - I Love you Yarn Swap 3.0

Yes I've done another another Naki swap - this time based on 3 little words

mine were: Lillie's, Butterfly & Flowers

The swap included:
200g 8 ply handyed “Lillie's” in soft greens with blues and yellows
a Notebook with Flowers and Butterfly's on it (couldn't resist when i saw it in the shop)
And a set of stitch markers to go with the Notebook.

Was a really neat swap - even though my words were a lot more ‘straight forward then others’ i still tried to move away from the pinks and girlyness and do something different (i think it worked)

Trudi received my swap - although i had fallen in love with the dye job again so she was lucky to get it ;)

Stitch Markers

Notebook, Yarn & Stichmarkers

Rav details:


And the wicked parcel i received based on 3 little words:

Bohemian, Chinese & Simple

Titled: Green Tea
I received:
200g TWC 8ply Han dyed with Food colouring : Tea Plantation a semi solid green (just what i was after!!!)
Fleur notelets to write your little musing upon whilst sipping your Green tea
A pattern for a Tea Cosy (something any self respecting chic bohemian lady should have)
Origami paper and instructions to fold your own table (upon which to drink your tea and write your musings)

Thanks heaps knappers - I Love it!! .. and so do the girls!

Rav Link:

Will update later with Pic of all the other Yarn/Parcels in this swap :)

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.

I'm Back!

yes I know, I've been neglecting this blog for far to long - i guess with a combination of the festive season and feeling low lately my blog hasn't been on the for-front of my mind.

But i have alot to update over the next wee while:
- My Blendy Sampler Box just arrived
- i have got some lovely gifties from my lovely friend Kate
- My Favoutite Book swap
- Christmas!
- My new spinning wheel and accessories
- Whats happeing in the garden
- The Kids
- The Brag book Tutorial

and so on .... so i'll get started with my Blendy box in a minute :)

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) :)