This week

Hello and welcome. I've had a pretty slow week, but that could be in part because I haven't felt well. Perkier now though, and the kidlettes are off school for two weeks. I hope the weather improves so we can plan some fun outdoor activities.

I have a couple of small FO's to share this week. The first one I made to put under the Ball canning jar I use to dry long spoons/knives in the kitchen. It just needed a little something to catch any drips.

Pattern: Set of ombre coasters free pattern on Ravelry
Yarn: Lily cotton from my stash.


The next project was purely inspired by a post over at Minding My Own Stitches. The whole time I was crocheting this I kept thinking, "I'm making a stocking for my dog, I'm making a stocking for my dog!" But really, it is very cute. It is also a good way to practise crochet, and I need all the practise I can get!

Pattern: Dog stocking free on Ravelry
Yarn: Jarol Mother of Pearl I've had in my stash for ever. It isn't nice yarn at all, even though it is marketed as baby yarn. It has a sparkley thread running through it that makes it scratchy. It was gifted to me ages ago and I've been trying to use it up since. I held it double for the pattern, and got rid of quite a bit.

Lastly, it was my husbands birthday this week. He is not a birthday-loving guy (gasp) and doesn't even let me make a cake. But I got around that by making Eccles Cakes. If you haven't had these before, go ahead and make a batch right now. I'll wait. Good aren't they?

We used to eat them a lot in Scotland (ok, ok, bought from a bakery and never home made--until now. Home made is so much better). 

These little beauties are puff pastry filled with a currant/candied peel filling. Delicious! I used raisins because that's how I do things around here, and I used more filling that the recipe called for (1 tsp per cake, that is just ridiculous, I must have used 2 tbs each). If you are a fan of mincemeat type flavors, I cannot recommend these enough. VERY easy. VERY tasty.

And that's if from me for this week. Have a great weekend and happy crafting!

Why didn't she tell me quilting was hard?

Hello! Today I'm taking a wee break from knitting FO's and sharing a sewing one. I know, I haven't done that in a long time. I can say things have been helped along quite a bit by actually living within 15 minutes of a fabric store. I love it so, so much. 

I started this back in May 2012, and wow that stewed for a while in the "if it is in the closet and I can't see it I don't have to work on it" pile. Of course, we had some major life events between then and now, but still, I'm glad to have this done.

It is a mish-mash of different things, thought up by my then 6 year old. I used her old receiving blankets for the strips, and she picked out all the other fabric. To begin with I thought that coral pink would be terrible, but now I have to say I like it very much. She loves the backing fabric so much she uses it both ways. Turns out I could have just bought two big pieces of fabric and quilted them together and she'd be happy. Live and learn. Anyway, the first one is done and dusted and the second one should be easier (famous last words). Stay tuned.

In other sewing news, I've also been whipping up some new cloth napkins from stash fabric:

And making dog toys, also from stash fabric. That green one to the left is an old toy I made her, it is well loved. This dog loves to destroy, and I have to use the thickest fabric I have. The blue one I just made only lasted a night, even though it had four layers of fabric........

Thanks for stopping by my Finished Object Friday. Have a great weekend, I'll see you next week! 

Happiness

Hello and welcome to my WIP Wednesday!! Am I the only one having issues with blogger? It did NOT want me to write a post today. I finally won, because I am stubborn and I had some time on my hands. 

Coming hot off my super happy finish of Flowing Lines, I cast on Creme Brule in Plymouth Bamtastic yarn. My knitting is all backward lately, knitting a sweater in the hot sunshine, and now a summer top in the cold spring greyness. Oh well, hopefully the sun will be out again soon.

In addition to knitting, here are some other things  this week that are making me happy:

A new friend gifted me all these herbs from her garden. Chives, mint, two kinds of parsley, cilantro, thyme. People are so lovely!

This is my new yarn bowl. It is an Opp shop find--they were having a "fill a bag for $5" sale and I got my monies worth (the girls got some summer clothes as well). I love it!

The girls are cutting bits of yarn to leave out for the birds that are nesting. We were trying to entice some swallows to nest nearby, but I think we may have failed. I really want them to stay and eat the mosquitoes that are plaguing us!

Lastly, we made ribbon wands. As my Dad pointed out they are huge, but as I said to him, we don't do small and dainty around here. The girls and I went to a local craft fair and they were fairly taken with the ribbon wands. I told them we could make two our selves for the price of one at the fair, and they accepted the challenge. I was right, and they got to pick their own colors. Win-win.

Ok, this time I really mean lastly, here are two books I just finished reading and wanted to share as they were both amazing. Totally different, one is sci-fi (4th in the series by Robin Hobb, she is fantastic) and the other, uhm, well, a book that takes place in the 60's on the east coast of Australia. I recommend both!

Have a great week!

go with the flow

Hello, and thanks for stopping by. I've had several things that made me happy this week: large amounts of sunshine and warmth, baking cookies, cuddles with the kids, gardening (and not hating cutting the grass), and finishing my Flowing Lines.

I knit this sweater in record time, two weeks! It was a pleasure from the get go, and of course I love this wool more than I should. Like, a lot! I want to buy more of it, right now, and knit more things. Fabulous stuff.

The only mods I did on the pattern were to lengthen the body a couple of inches (I have a long torso) and to make the sleeves 3/4 length (I ran out of wool). I really like the way it turned out. Of course, it has no buttons yet, because the shop didn't have any I like. I will look online, but in the meantime, I wish I hadn't put the buttonholes in, because it is fabulous without. Maybe I'll just discretely sew them closed.........

Funny thing about these pictures. They aren't the best. I was just putting on the sweater when Rori ran into the house and shouted, "I need you, I've lost Isla." So I ran with her to the school thinking something terrible had happened (they had gone back to school to find something left behind, it is 2 blocks from the house). Turns out she was only hiding from the teachers because she thought she would get in trouble, even though I had sent her to ASK the teacher for help. Sigh. So when we got home I made them take pictures for me. The day was grey, they weren't interested, and the sun was going down. So all in all, I guess they aren't that bad. On the up side, this sweater is like a warm woolly hug. I did not want to take it off. But I do want to try blocking it.

Details:
Pattern: Flowing Lines
Yarn: Malabrigo Rios in Lotus   

Thanks for stopping by, have a great weekend. 

and then this happened

So I had just finished frogging the blue Gemini I talked about in my last WIP post. I had even found a new pattern for it, a tank top in honor of the fact that spring will be here soon. I had started the gauge swatch. And then this happened:

And that poor, abused, frogged and re-frogged Sirdar Calico went straight out the window. When the Post Man knocked on my door and handed me the impatiently waited for yarn, it was all I could do not to shut the door quickly and run to the craft room. Seriously, he wants to make small talk now, doesn't he know the bag he just handed me holds yarn!!

And then I had the age-old dilemma of which yarn to use first, what project called to me? In all honesty I had set my mind on some summer tops (that's what the other two yarns are for, and yes, I'm in a teal phase), with no sleeves. But, it was raining, and the Malabrigo Rios is so, so pretty. So I went with that, because you have to do what you have to do.

I cast on Flowing Lines.  

Did I have trouble with the boat neck collar? Yes, yes I did. I had to rip back and re-join once, but only once so I'm counting that as a victory. Then I got paranoid it wouldn't be big enough (I'm still not sure) so I have taken it off the needles twice to try it on. I think it will be OK, but time will tell. Now I'm just hoping I have enough yarn to make it long sleeve (though 3/4 would be just fine). Does everyone worry this much when knitting or is it just me?

I am so in love with this project!! 

Pretty in pink

Hurray for Friday! I am ever so happy that I've finished the second Saffron cardigan. It languished on the needles a wee bit longer than it needed to, but I really do dislike sleeves! And of course Rori wanted full length sleeves, no matter that I kept telling her it was a spring cardigan. Oh well, she's happy, I'm happy, and now I can plan on knitting some short sleeve projects for a while!

I made the rather foolish mistake of waiting too long to take pictures of the girl in her cardigan. Today is Book Parade at school, where the kids get to dress up as a character from a book. She is Slinky Malinki (I LOVE Lyndley Dodd). She was an unwilling participant in the photos, but at least now you know why she is dressed as a cat.

And then, because she is seven (as good an explanation as any), she started to dance........

And because she is adorable too, here is Winnie the Witch

So, a rather picture heavy post, to be sure. Back to the cardigan. I love the pattern, it needed no modifications in my opinion, and it is very straight-forward. The yarn I used is Universal Yarn Double Twist, which the girls picked out. I am happy with both cardigan, the yarn, the pattern. All of it!

That's it for me this Friday, see you next week!

Digging through the pile

Hi everyone. I've been a bit quiet on here lately, but I should be back with several new/completed projects soon. You know how sometimes life gets difficult, hands you lemons, craps all over you? I've been going through a bit of that, but I'm coming out the other side in a better place, the place I want to be. I'm one of those people that needs a back-up plan for my back-up plan, so while I put plan B into effect, I'm focusing on some knitting therapy. 

I'm pretty excited I've changed a WIP into a FO this week, and I'll share that on Friday. Here's a hint, it's pink. I know, big surprise. While I wait for the new yarn I've ordered to arrive I'm digging through my "naughty" pile of projects, and seeing if I can finish anything. 

The first thing in the pile is the Leaf Cardigan I started ages ago. It is too small, and made incorrectly, and I am 100% sure life will be better when it is frogged. 

The second thing in my pile is my Gemini. Now, I don't know what I have against this pattern, but I have attempted it twice, and I'm giving it one last chance. The blue Gemini got canned because I notice an error in it, and I didn't have the heart to rip it back.  See:

Then I got my hands on some KnitPicks CotLin yarn and decided I would try again. This time I only got this far:

I'm pretty sure I just put it in the time out because I had sore hands at the time, and the linen/cotton yarn wasn't helping. But after putting it back onto needles I saw an error in it. I've since frogged it. Like, just now.

Lastly, this throw blanket I started, uhm, a long time ago. I decided I didn't have enough yarn, or energy, or whatever, and it has sat in the basket since. I haven't wanted to frog it because of the effort already expended on it, but, well, it isn't going to grow either. If I frog it at least I can use the yarn for something else.  

That's it for me for now. I'm going to sit here until I  decide if I'm going to carry on with the blue Gemini, or re-start the red. Or maybe, just maybe, find a new pattern for the Cotlin yarn.  See you Friday!