knits and knots and natters

The other day I went looking for a bag of green flecked wool that I knew I had but couldn't remember where I'd put. I searched high and then I searched low and found it under my bed with a bunch of other bits and pieces of the woolly persuasion including the start of a granny hottie that I hooked up last year. Fancy that! I fully remember making that red one but I wonder why I started and then stopped this green one. I'd better finish it off don't you think.


After I found the green wool I cast on some Emerald Fingerless Mittens to swap with a potter for some beakers. It feels a bit funny to be making something for someone I've never even met in real life but a bit fun all the same. I hope she likes them.


In the middle of all this I turned around in my desk chair one day and contemplated the stacks of vintage sheets that I have been collecting but neglecting for years. Piles of them all neatly folded and colour coded. I thought about cutting out and sewing a dress for someone but it's not really sundress weather. So I pulled some down, tore off some 3cm lengths, found a 10mm hook, crocheted a 26 chain stitches and started a rag rug.

The beginning was quick and fun but then it started hurting my hands and curling up at the edges so I took a break. It's so cold and there's so much knitting to be done that I can't really afford to hurt myself right now. Or ever. I think I've got a 15mm hook around here somewhere that might help  to make it looser and easier.

If you were an oversized crochet hook where would you hide from me?


The minute before I put my rag rug aside to rest it occurred to me that my time would probably be better spent making something woolly and wearable. In these crazy cold days something that protects against the chilliness must be valued higher than something pretty, every single time.

So I systematically searched through my stash, found three bandless balls of something that looked 12plyish, found a pattern on Ravelry, swatched and cast on. And despite the fact that Indi said I would never wear that colour, I knitted on.

It was a quick knit and after about two nights I found myself nearing the end of the first ball which in turn made me happy and then concerned. Happy because I could imagine myself wearing my thick, cuddly cardi by the end of the week. And then concerned because there was no way I was a third of the way into the knit and yet here I was a third of the way into my wool.

That's when I realised I had underestimated the amount of yarn I would need. And I got out the kitchen scales and weighed it all up and realised that I was right, I was way under. Oops. I'm so used to knitting 8ply that I had forgotten that the same weight of 12ply would give me less length. And being wool from the Bendigo Woollen Mills back-room I knew there wasn't much chance of getting any more. Bum!


After that I knitted up some Small Fry Fingerless gloves for Pepper. Look at her cute little meditation hands.


Next up is socks. Wish me luck.

Or maybe I'll have to put all that on hold to knit with the smooshiest yarn ever that just arrived in Jodie's Jellywares Winter yarn club. Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm...

Decisions. Decisions.

So that's me all caught up creatively.
How about you? What've you been up to?

I hope you're feeling inspired and creative. I hope you've got a fun project on the go.

Ciao!

xx

Odds and ends though

Our weekend.

(Ups and downs, round and rounds.) Repeat.

Freezing cold mornings and the most gloriously sunny afternoons.

Farm chores.

Buzzy bees leaving their warm, winter hives for bathroom breaks and to snack on the flowering gums.

Brilliant blue skies.

A new rug.

A dancing concert for the teddies, complete with flashlight spotlight.

Missing our farmer boy away at the beach with his mates.

Casting off two scalloped beanies. Miss Jazzy's details here. Miss Pepper's details here.

An afternoon smokey bon-fire with marshmallows, potatoes and damper.

A birthday bestie phone call.

Snacks for dinner.

Movies til too late.

A sleepless night without my boy.

A Sunday lazy, late morning.

One fire survived the night, one didn't.

A movie and pop corn in Ballarat for some and about 6,000 steps around the streets for the others.

An angelic almost teen.

A new bunny home for the fluffies.

A relight of the kitchen fire with a milk carton.

A runaway middle child.

A homecoming Bren.

Soup for dinner.

Some knitting on the couch.

Soon to bed.

But before bed, some of this.

A lump of ends bought from the Bendigo Woollen Mills bargain backroom a few months ago. Just under 100 grams. I'm thinking a scarf. Maybe. If I have enough. I really feel like something odds and ends though.

What do you feel like?
How was your weekend?

xx

Making::a poncho.

I've been making a poncho.

And while I've been making my poncho I've been thinking a lot about how great it is to have the skills to make things yourself. When you know how to make something, you can make it exactly the way you want it and when you want it.

All winter long I've been wearing my Mara shawl. I love my Mara. Its possibly the most successful, in terms of amount of wears, thing I've ever knit. Its charcoal grey and goes with everything. It's snugly. Its knit from local Bendigo Woollen Mills wool. Its a gorgeous pattern. And people are always asking me about it.

But when you are a crazy busy mama/farmer-girl, shawls aren't really the most practical accessory. I am forever tucking Mara's ends back around me, or tying them up all over again.

So about a month ago it occurred to me that I needed a poncho.

A poncho would do the same snugly job as Mara, but wouldn't ever come undone.

So I did a search of ponchos/capelets/cowls on google images. I looked at heaps of them until I came up with what I wanted for myself. I decided it had to be about elbow length, not too tight around the neck and definitely no skivvy bit, light grey for trans-seasonal wearing and cables and ribs for interesting knitting.

Then I did a ravelry search, found a pattern that ticked all my boxes, found some wool in my stash and cast on.

I'm not a great or very patient shopper and I know that had I chosen to pound the pavement searching for the poncho of my dreams, I would have come home empty handed and irritated.

Instead, after a week or so of enjoyable, meditative knitting, I'll have a cute poncho to wear. It'll be made to my personal specifications and I wont have to wait until the fashion gods decide that its on trend and in shops.

And I know that making your own doesn't always equal a bargain, but in this case the end result will cost me twenty three dollars which I think is pretty reasonable indeed.

Making really excites me. I love it!

Growing and cooking do for the same reasons too.
Right now I'm heading to the kitchen to heat up some soup we made from vegies we grew.
Yum!

What are you making at the moment?
Do you wanna make a poncho too?
My pattern details are here. Let's start a poncho trend. How fun!
Are you obsessed with the make like I am?

Happy weekending. xx

Bunny on the road.

Remember the old days when this used to be a craft blog? When I used to sew and knit and crochet? When I had lots of projects to show you in the making and at the end?

I do. Vaguely. It feels like it has been a very long time though. I guess that's what blog archives are good for. Reminding you of who you are and where you've been.

Anyway, while there haven't been many crafting opportunities on the road so far, I have snuck in a little bit of crochet here and there and made a little ballerina bunny for my Puppy.

She wont be white for long, she's been dragged by her ears up the centre of Australia, literally.

But I think I have finally been forgiven for leaving her Humpty at home.

Hugest love and thank you to Miss Nel in New Zealand for the fab book the bunny pattern came from. I miss you guys loads. xx

Bunny Ravelled here.

And yes I know that her mouth looks like a moustache but the owner doesn't care so neither do I.

Better fly, the other four are playing skipping with a long rope outside the caravan and its time to head to the pub for dinner.

Have a great night.

Check ya. xx

Tea Leaves.

After just over two months I am thrilled to report that I have cast off, darned in the ends and sewn on the buttons of my Tea Leaves cardi.

I love, love, love this pattern, I love this colour and I love the buttons I bought at a garage sale years ago and saved for something special.

I am so tempted to cast on another one straight away in grey.

Huge and enormous thanks must go to Ms Nandi for the extra ball of Forest. You are the best!!

All cardi details here.

I'm a bit flat today after the dramas of the weekend. I keep wandering around the house in circles starting things and then moving onto something else. Its terribly cold and windy which doesn't help.

So that's it for me for now.

I hope we all have a great week.

I hope something really exciting and fun happens too.

See ya!

This weekend...

This weekend we drove to Melbourne and back to go to a festival on Saturday.

This weekend we spent the whole of Sunday at home.

We ate, we did the farm chores, we sewed up some softies using Indi's new sewing machine, we played on the trapeze and the trampoline, we hung around and relaxed.

This weekend I finished my two test knits for Tikki's new pattern Darwinia.

I knitted Jazzy's dress in BWM cotton and Pepper's baby doll in Woolganics.

I like the look and feel of the wool one much better.

I love this pattern.

Details for Jazzy's here and Pepper's here.

This weekend Jazzy filled an entire book with little characters she designed, Indi made everyone dinner and Pepper flitted around the place playing with everyone and everything she could find.

This weekend I wore a top I found in the back of my cupboard that Bren says reminds him of a t'towel, I got my hair chopped into a style that I wont have to style and I tried my hardest to sew with the girls without taking over or getting frustrated or frustrating them.

This weekend the laundry dried quickly on the line.

For once I wont be scrambling around for bits of school uniform tomorrow morning.

This weekend we marvelled at the enormous amount of fruit that has set in the orchards and hope that the frosts, hail and birds spare us this year.

This weekend the girls made the most gorgeous fairy ring for the fairies to come and dance in.

This weekend I realised that I have started looking out for snakes when I am walking around the farm. UGH!

This weekend I learnt that toothpaste is the best way to remove permanent texta from white boards.

This weekend I remembered that pesto is the besto!

This weekend we watched Robin Hood and I surprised myself by enjoying it.

This weekend a song about growing up made everyone in our family cry.

This weekend is coming to an end and our house looks like a bomb has gone off in it, but I feel happy and rested and ready for the week to come.

Have you had a good weekend?

I hope so. XX

Desperately seeking Forest!

What's cooking good looking?

The sun is shining and we are having a lovely morning this morning.

The washing is drying, the apple cake is baking, Jazzy is obsessed with that song 'anything you can do I can do better', Indi has gone to school late because she was busy finishing off her crane that can lift some wood 10cm off the table, Pepper is slowing me r-i-g-h-t down because she insists that she's Pixie and has to crawl everywhere and Bren and the boys are responsible for the wild and loud noise that is coming from the shed.

And me? I'm good too. I feel like things are speeding up towards the end of the year, I feel like my 'to do' list is so long that the things on the end of it are never going to see the light of day, I feel like being everything to everyone sometimes has me forgetting to breathe but truthfully I probably wouldn't have it any other way.

And I'm sewing a seam here and a seam there, so I'm happy.

If you think your Little Miss would look gorgeous in this Tree Dress 2, you can find it in my shop.

Oh and the desperately seeking Forest thing?

Well it seems that Bendigo Woollen Mills have delivered my order, but the ball of Luxury in Forest colour is currently unavailable. The ball that I needed, whereas the rest of the order I just wanted. The ball that I must use if I ever want to finish the sleeves and button band of my Tea Leaves cardi.

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So, I am wondering if one of you guys has a ball, or a bit of a ball, of BWM Luxury in Forest that you could spare. I would LOVE to buy it off you if you do. Or, alternatively I could send you mine if and when it arrives.

Are you having a happy and sunshiny day??

Are you ticking your way through your list?

I hope so.

See ya!

Softie 4 Mirabel.

Well hello there!

Actually, truth be told its goodbye!

You see I am leaving the farm today and heading into the bright lights of the big city for a real adventure.

I am dressed in my fanciest outfit. I have my matching shoes, scarf and hat on and my designer handbag is filled with all the important stuff that a girl simply cannot live without. I've spent hours getting my hair just right, I just hope this rain doesn't make it frizzy. And I've been hiding from Miss Jazzy who wants to cover me with glitter and make me look like a rock star. You see, its just no good for my complexion.

A girl's got to look her best you know. She simply has no idea who she might meet on her travels.

I must be honest and tell you that I am most excited. This farm and all the dirt and green is OK for some, but you see I am a lady who appreciates the finer things in life. I love nothing better than shopping, gossiping and lots of long lunches.

I have my sights set high and I wont let anything get in my way on my journey to the top.

So its farewell from me for now.

I'm heading to Pip's and from there to my new best friend's place. I cannot wait to see what delights my new future holds...a star on the Hollywood boulevard? A hit music video? The new female lead on the next Twilight movie?...the sky's the limit.

So ciao ciao for now.

Oh and if you want my personal details so you can text me, I am Raveled here.

Testing.

Have I told you that I'm doing a bit of knitting pattern testing?

It seems like not very long ago that I popped into Georgie's blog and saw all the gorgeous patterns she was designing and decided then and there that I had to learn to knit.

Fast forward a few months and I have knitted five pieces using Georgie's patterns and now I am one of the testers testing her latest pattern that will be added to her range next month.

It is such an exciting feeling receiving a pattern that so few people have seen before, to start knitting knowing that soon people all over the world will be knitting these same stitches and to watch this new garment coming together before my eyes. And it is such fun to be included in all the chit chat that goes on in the secret pattern testing website, (did you even know such a thing existed?)

But I have struggled with this responsibility too. I did three gauge squares before I was certain I was knitting the right tension, I have counted each stitch waaaaaaaaaaay too many times and I am overly aware of how much yarn I am using and making sure that I follow the pattern exactly.

I know that there are quite a few other testers testing this same pattern, I know that I have knitted her patterns successfully before and I know that the fact that I am a beginner knitter is probably why Georgie chose me to test but still I want it to be perfect and I am taking this responsibility so seriously.

So far my stitch count has differed from the pattern once and after undoing it and reknitting it and getting the same count again, I checked the testing site to find that it had already been corrected.

Let's hope it is all smooth sailing/knitting from here and that the pattern will be released really soon for you to knit and enjoy as it sure is a gorgeous one.

I hope you have a really happy weekend.

When Miss Pepper wakes up from her nap, her and Jazzy and I are going to catch the train to Melbourne to meet Bren and Indi.

See ya! XX

Olearia

I think one of the reasons I learnt to knit, was so I could knit Olearia. I stumbled upon it at Georgie's one creative space Thursday and kept going back to check on it. It was love at first sight.

I love the long and short sleeved versions, the gathered yoke, the fact that it is knitted in one piece and how cute it looks over a sundress or over a long sleeved top.

I actually knitted the size three for Miss Pepper but it seems to have grown after I steamed it last night and is a perfect size for almost seven year old Jazzy.

Jazzy is a much more willing model at the moment than Pepper so its a win win really isn't it.

Jazzy who lost a tooth this morning, who cannot stop writing, who is my skipping girl, who is thriving on being the good girl at the moment, my middle princess.

With the Olearia cast off, its time to work out what's next. I'm still not fast enough a knitter to contemplate anything for me and am obsessed with knitting in the round so that narrows it down. Maybe something lacey? Hmm...

Have a wonderful weekend wherever you may be. XX

Maisie Cardigan.

How great is the internet?!

Before I start this ramble, I should tell you that I am pretty useless at it. My sister set up my blog for me and told me how to work it, I have a flickr account but I'm not sure what to do with it, I can't play with my photos or the layout of my blog and I have never bought anything on line.

BUT!

I can email.

The other day after crocheting the top of the Maisie cardigan out of vintage crochet by Susan Cropper, I got stuck on the exact placing of the stitches needed to make the dress bit. I had a few tries but I didn't feel confident.

So I put it aside for a few days and started something new, but then I remembered the baby due any minute and decided I had no choice but to finish it.

So I went back and had a look at the pattern and saw that the designer of the pattern was Alicia Paulson. I then checked the designer biographies at the back of the book and there I found her blog address. Once I found her blog Posie Gets Cozy, it was easy to find her email address.

So I emailed Alicia, she emailed me back and I finished the cardigan.

What would have happened in the days before email?

Would I have sent her a letter all the way to America and waited for her reply to get back to Australia?

Would I have given up or made it up?

Who knows. But its pretty cool that in 24 hours I can have personal advice from the designer herself don't you think?

This Maisie cardigan was crocheted from eight ply cotton found in the bargain room at Bendigo Woollen Mills. It was crocheted for a baby due last Friday, a baby that will make Indi's best friend a big sister.

Wrist warmers for Indi from this wool from Purl's Palace are my next crochet project.

Does anybody have a good pattern?

Have fun out there. XX