My creative space.

After I finished knitting the long, long rows of plain and purl for the green cardi, I felt like knitting something small and complicated. Something that would make me think and concentrate.

The Vineyard wash cloth fit the bill perfectly. Details here. I loved knitting this pattern of intricate intertwined little leaves that came together so quickly.

This wash cloth is getting packed up with some soap and some seeds and heading to my secret partner in Jodie's Spring Washer Swap. I hope she likes it.

And what's a girl to do when she can't possibly concentrate on intricate pattern but needs a project to keep her hands busy while out and about? Why crochet ric rac of course!

This is for Ms Beccasauras for a little swap we did. A pair of Dortjes for a pile of crocheted ric rac.

And then there's the beginnings of another Olearia. I'm dying to see how the pattern looks in this multicolour yarn.

And finally, thanks so much for the gorgeous messages left here and on Ravelry about my green cardi. I appreciate and love reading each and every one. You guys are the best!

So what are you up to today?

I'm off to Kirsty's to check.

Happy Thursday y'all. X

Ta-da!

Well hello there, good morning!

How are things going at yours this fine Tuesday?

I'm good. So happy to have finally finished my green cardi. I think it'll be such a handy addition to the wardrobe. Great for throwing over the shoulders on a cooler summer's day or for wearing over a long sleeve top when the weather is cooler.

I am so excited to have knitted something for myself that I will definitely wear and love wearing.

All the details for this fab pattern can be found here.

HUGE thanks to Knitter Sue for the cotton.

I hope your week has gotten off to a great start.

The flood waters have receded at our place taking the drive way gravel with them and knocking down a few tress, but all in all we've been really lucky. The boys even managed to rescue the irrigation lines Bren was so worried about.

I hope you are feeling happy today.

I'm off to check out the blogs Pepper and Jazzy have been drawing on their cardboard computers. After that maybe a bit of time on Ravelry choosing a new pattern.

Have fun out there. XX

Loving...

Its Saturday today and I am loving;

Being surrounded by art supplies as preparations are made for Fathers' Day tomorrow.

That they take for granted that everything involved in the celebrations will be home made.

That Indi went into her room and came out a while later and sang us the Fathers' Day song she'd just written.

The lists they are making about how much and why they love their Dad.

Their Dad!

How much Pepper loves to copy what her big sisters are doing. At the moment they are cutting and she is ever so seriously snipping too.

That I can now try on the cardi I am knitting so I know how much longer I have to go.

Haloumi.

This book that I started reading last night. We have a bit of a pattern going on my farmer boy and I, he goes into a book shop for some sort of inspirational farming or environmental book and ends up having such a lovely chat with the shop keeper that he can't help but buy the book she highly recommends. He never reads them but I usually love them. The last one was The Book Thief which I adored.

That Jazzy is so excited and in such a hurry to go and dress up that she leaves a trail of clothes behind her. I kind of wish she'd come back and collect them later though.

I'm loving that keeping up with her big sisters is such tiring work that Miss Pepper just collapsed in the middle of what she was doing and fell asleep. I wish I could do that too.

And finally, I'm loving and so grateful for a dry, clean, warm house. Its been pouring with rain at our place but we are lucky.

What are you loving today?

Knitting myself in knots.

We were sitting on the couch last night my farmer boy and I. He was landing planes on his iPhone and I was knitting long rows of plain then purl. He turned to watch me for a while and then asked if I was enjoying what I was doing. If I felt like I was being creative. If it was about the process or the end result.

I immediately laughed and told him of course, otherwise I wouldn't do it and would go and buy it from the shop instead.

But those questions have been ringing in my ears since then.

In the beginning this cardi I am knitting felt very creative. I was learning new stitches and counting and marking and feeling very excited about what I was creating.

But then the fun part was over and I am now left with rows and rows of plain and purl. Rows and rows and rows and rows.

It feels creative because it is something I am creating, because my hands are constantly knotting the yarn into these patterns that create a fabric and because I am getting better at a new skill.

But I must admit I am a bit over the monotony of the knit, knit, knit rows and am trying to figure out a way to add a bit more excitement to the bottom band.

But knitting has brought out parts of my personality that I didn't think existed, that I hardly recognise as my own. I have watched myself spend an entire night knitting, only to find a mistake the next morning and unravel it to where I had started from. Never before have I had such patience with my crafting.

I have found it a thrill to learn and practise new stitches like the SSK and the SK2P and the T2R. And I have been happy to spend weeks at a time working on the same project rather than losing interest and moving onto the next thing like I usually do.

I'm still not sure I could make the same thing twice though.

Its interesting.

Is making the same as creating?

Can they be separated?

Do you find some crafts more creative than others?

I might ask him if landing planes is creative for him.

Have fun out there. XX

Stuff in my head.

I haven't been spending much time on the computer lately. In the beginning it was hard, I felt guilty, but now that I am used to it, its hard to come back.

I am knitting something for me. Its a bit fun. I have no idea if the gauge is right or if it'll fit but I am hopeful. 282 stitches in a row means each row is taking a looooooooong time though.

I am reading a book at the moment that is full of characters that I don't like. I want to persevere because it sounds like an interesting story but I am struggling. Sometimes I find myself alternating a chapter of the book with a game of spider solitaire on my phone.

An older man came up to me in a cafe yesterday to tell me he thought my girls were so gorgeous and well behaved and allowed to have fun and that he thought I looked like I was a great mother. What a nice thing to do. Sometimes they are, sometimes they are not. Sometimes I am, sometimes I'm not. But yesterday that felt like the best gift I could get.

In a game of 'would you rather', I claimed to love coffee so much that I would rather live in freezing cold and have lots of coffee than hot and tropical with no coffee at all.

Yesterday Indi and her scooter slipped on some wet bricks and went flying. She's ok. A bit battered and bruised but I think it gave us more of a fright than anything else.

Just after that happened, Jazzy and I ran in the pouring rain for about 15 minutes to get where we needed to go. We were soaked through and jumping in puddles and singing and laughing. We had a ball.

When we came home we had a bath with Pepper who only wanted to play the naughty girl that kicked.

I'm good. I'm happy. I'm feeling like so far this week its all working.

How are you?

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

@ my house.

At my house today I am weighing yarn,

I am going through my clothes and making an op shop mountain,

and I am hearing my Dad's voice in mine when I ask my girls what 'this so called music they are listening to is.'

At my house today, I slammed a block of wood on my finger and saw stars.

At my house today I am crocheting 3d floral squares,

I am feeling cold in my bones but planning for warmth,

I am holding my little one as she is sick in the laundry basket,

and I am looking at gorgeous photos of vintage sheet quilts.

At my house today I am rewarding myself for jobs ticked off my list, with rows of the Olearia and although I am not a pink person, Pepper's bright choice is making me happy.

After a year of having an iphone at my house, today I have become obsessed with the ipod in it. I am listening to it on random but am most excited when a Joshua Radin song comes on.

Do you have any crafty podcasts you can recommend for me and my ipod at my house?

I hope your week at your house has gotten off to a great start.

See ya at Lou's house. XX