Doubling up!

Considering that I haven't blogged for a few weeks, you'd have thought that I could have come up with something original ... but no! ... all of my knitting has been a complete repeat of my last two projects :-) I loved knitting my first Bad Penny so much, that I started another one! (I just love using this Sean Sheep Armytage wool ... in my stash I still have 9 balls of white/blue and 2 balls of mustard/yellow. This Bad Penny only takes 5 balls, so I should have enough of the white to make a long sleeved jumper, and maybe get a neckwarmer and wristies out of the yellow).

The other 'repeat' knitting was another pair of winter socks ... I tried doing the Afterthought heel on two thirds of the stitches this time (as per EZ's instructions), but thought they looked a bit odd, so I went back to using a half ... they're still better than the last pair though, because this time I didn't forget to pick up a few extra stitches at either side of the heel, to avoid holes (I did 4 on each side) ... think I may be adventurous next time, and try a different heel :-D

Bad Penny

This is my slightly shortened version of Stephanie Japel's Bad Penny. In keeping with my stash down plans for this year (of course, this will only last until Lincraft or Spotlight have their next big yarn sale!!), I used 5 balls of Sean Sheep Armytage (yep, the reason for the shorter length is because I just knitted down until my yarn ran out...couldn't do that if it wasn't knit from the top :-)) I added a bit of waist shaping with the help of Barbara Walker's Knitting from the Top and omitted the lacy increases and edgings....but other than that, I pretty much followed the pattern ;-D
I started knitting this top before Christmas, but it was just too hot and sticky to be knitting with a thick wool at that time of year (trying it on all the time to get the fit right was just the worst!!) ... we had a couple of cooler days last week, so I made the most of the change, and finished it off...all in all, it probably only took a few days to knit. I have another 5 balls of the same yarn in a different colour, so I think I may be starting another one soon :-)
I'm liking the layered look again for this winter...just perfect for Adelaide :-)

Thought filled socks!

I've come to the conclusion that I've been way over-thinking this whole sock making process! Although I've been knitting pretty much my whole life, socks have never been on my to-do list...they always seemed to be too fiddly, confusing, requiring too much concentration, and not worth the effort considering they would probably be eaten up by the washing machine some day anyway!!....but!!....after seeing everybody elses awesome sock creations (oh how I love Ravelry ;-D) I really wanted to make some...this is where the over-thinking came in!... toe-up, cuff-down, 2 needles, 4 needles, magic loop, gusset, german heel, square heel, afterthought heel...????
So, I decided to stop thinking, and just start knitting :-) I used some thick 10 ply yarn from my stash with 4mm needles (2 circulars). After about half a day of trying out different cast-ons, I went with this one (by far the easiest and neatest). I did 8 wraps of the needles (16 stitches, 8 for each side) and increased each side, every other round, until there were 22 stitches. I then knit 29 rounds before adding the waste yarn for an afterthought heel (for which a lot of fore-thought went into!!), and continued for another 10 rounds before changing to a K1 P1 rib for 8 rounds. The heel was finished by decreasing each side every other round until 8 stitches on either side remained, and cast off by the 3 needle method, (just the opposite of the toes).
They were just so much easier (and less fiddly) than I thought :-)
The only change I will make for my next pair, is to make the heel bigger...I made this one on half of the stitches, but I really should have read my Knitting without Tears (Elizabeth Zimmermann) more closely, as she explains that a much better percentage is two thirds.
I now feel confident to try the sock pattern that my daughter requested from Love to Knit (Bronwyn Lowenthal)...the pattern is written for 2 needles, but as always, I have to do it different ;-D

I *heart* this yarn

I bought another bag of green Wangaretta Mill yarn for $5 from Lincraft, not really knowing what I was going to do with it (as per usual!). When I got it home, it matched great with some white Lang Arte that I bought a few years back (also from Lincraft). I was thinking of making a blanket with hearts, similar to Millie's Blanket, but wasn't too keen on how EZ's heart looked in the variegated yarn. The block I went with in the end, was this intarsia heart from Jan Eaton's 200 Knitted Blocks...I love the look and feel of this textured yarn :-)

Taueret, I'm not sure of the content of some of these packs of yarn from Lincraft, but reading the forums over on Ravelry, some people have had some awesome finds, including Zhivago, Patonyle, Zoomy, Cleckheaton Country, Cleckheaton Angora, Gusto, Country 8 ply, and heaps more. It's certainly worth while taking time to 'dig' through the pile...the selection seems to vary a lot between different stores though...(the selection at the Marion SA store is really good :-))

....Some new crafty books for my birthday last week, to add to my library...(thanks guys!)
(the Love to Knit book was a pressy from my daughter, on the condition that I make her the socks on the front cover!!!) :-D

Pillowcase Pinnies

I bought a load of $1.20 pillowcases last year, because I really liked the fabric...some I've set aside for making skirts or tops, some for making quilts, and some for general sewing....this one was screaming out to be an apron :-) (well ... 2 aprons!) The 'pieced' front is actually one piece of fabric (one whole side of the pillowcase)...and from my stash, I added a blue and white checked lining, and a white tie.
Quick, easy, cheap...and mighty practical ;-D

I was really excited this week to hear that my ipod hoody pattern had been featured on the Craftzine site (thanks so much to 2Paw for letting me know :-))
Since being featured, it has also appeared here and here!!
**very big grin**

Yet another cropped top...

Lincraft are selling 250g bags of yarn from the Wangaratta Mill Shop for $5 ... the yarn is not labelled as to it's ply etc, but there is a massive selection of everything from fine 4 ply up to at least 12 ply.
I used about two and a half balls (there were six in the pack) of this green self striping 8 ply.
Again I used the directions in Barbara Walker's Knitting from the Top...I made it exactly the same as my Bendigo Shrug, but left the front edges straight instead of decreasing them down. Now that it's finished, it reminds me a lot of the Anthropologie-insiped Capelet

Chrissy quilting time

...this quilt has been a long time in the making, but finally it's done :-) It started with me using five star blocks from my block stash, and a few oddments of Christmas fabric....It's machine pieced and quilted onto some creamy coloured polar fleece, with the holly leaves appliqued on top. There really wasn't much finishing off to be done..just the applique , some more quilting, and the binding being sewn down :-)

The small quilt with the log cabin corners I made in 1999...it was from a book that I borrowed, called Appliquilt to Go by Tonee White. I loved that I could combine the applique and quilting stitch into one action (I used the same technique this week for my holly leaves).

Reading the forums over on Ravelry I read about a new author (with a knitty twist) to look for...I love mysteries, especially really old Agatha Christie type books, so I couldn't wait to read Patricia Wentworth's Miss Silver Mysteries....Maud Silver is a private detective with a passion for knitting....what's not to love about that!.... so far I've started The Key, and already she's knitting some socks (whilst solving the crime of course!) :-)

Bendigo Shrug

I love Barbara Walker's Knitting from the top book :-)
I made this shrug/bolero following her directions for the Classic Raglan Cardigan...the book was really easy to follow, and I'm really happy with this first project.
I used just under one 200g ball of Bendigo Colonial 8ply. It feels nice and light to wear, and will be great now that summer is here :-)
(Don't you just love this back view shot?!...ha, it was the best I could do today :-D)


.....some work in progress piccies...

...smells like Christmas

The first week in December usually means gingerbread houses here...it also usually means a hell messy kitchen, falling roofs, the smell of scorched gingerbread, gingerbread either so hard that it breaks your teeth, or so soft that the walls cave in...it's a heaps good Chrissy tradition, but you get the general picture!?
Well this year, only one of my girls was game enough to give it another go...after googling for a new recipe (yep, they try a new one every year!), she went with the first one she clicked on, and OMG!, it was the best one yet :-) Tastes great, simple recipe, perfect consistency, and yes, a house that didn't cave in :-D WOOHOO!

December already!

We returned from a road trip to Port Augusta on saturday, and straight away, got the Christmas decs out :-)
This is a chrissy quilt I made a few years back...the centre section (up to the plain blue border) was from a pattern in Australian Patchwork and Quilting (applique special)...I just added some scrappy borders to make it a more usable size. In keeping with the scrappy theme, I made the backing out of any red or blue fabric I had (and used a house block from my pile of lonesome blocks, for the label)...I kinda like the back better than the front :-)

I also 'found' this nearly finished quilt in the box with the rest...(yep, I find my UFO's everywhere!)...all it needs is a bit more machine quilting, and some holly leaves to be appliqued....I should be able to finish it before Christmas ....(that is this Christmas) :-D

Knitting from the top

I found a copy of Barbara Walker's Knitting from the Top on Ebay, and have spent the last couple of days reading it from cover to cover :-) It's not a pretty book, and it would certainly be overlooked by me at the bookshop, but reading everybody's praise about it, I knew that I had to have a copy (and I was so right!). The book relies on text rather than photos, but it is so well written that it all makes perfect sense, and makes everything seem so easy...I'd given up trying to master the Invisible Cast On, but on my first try with Barbara's instructions, I totally got it!!




I haven't done much knitting or sewing in the last couple of weeks ... thanks to the great aussie cold virus that everybody seems to have had :-(
...but I did make a start on some Pocketbook Slippers (easy, no think, no effort, stash yarn knitting). The weather is getting hotter now, so slippers were perhaps not the obvious choice...but hey they're quick and have a really clever construction.
Trying to be Sunsmart yesterday, I was looking for something to wear over my shoulders, and found this green One Skein Wonder that I made a while back (before I started blogging). It worked perfectly...just right for protecting my shoulders outside in the sun....and just right for inside, guarding me from the air conditioners.
I'd forgotten just what a cool top this is :-)

Stashbusting potholders

I found this pattern through Ravelry, and thought that it would be a great way to use some of my box full of spare quilt blocks (this one was part of a block swap I did a few years back). I followed the idea from the pattern, not the actual pattern itself.........on my Bond knitting machine, I made a huge square of stocking stitch in random stripes, which I then cut into smaller squares and backed with fusible interfacing....

1.Pre-quilted block cut to 40cm square with roughly cut (interface backed) knitting...
2.Quilt block placed on wrong side of knitting...
3.Machine sewn, 5mm in from edge using a triple machine stitch (I also used a walking foot)...
4.Knitting cut to match quilt block...
5.Machine overlocked around the edges.

I was going to add some fabric binding around the edges, but decided that I liked the raw edge look better...to be extra sure that no unravelling happens, I'm going to add another row of triple stitch around the edge, just inside the first row.
A load of these all zigzagged together would make a really nice quilt on one side, and blanket on the other :-)

Power to the Pinny

...As promised, a modeled shot of my pair of matching(ish) aprons :-)
Meet James...he was the only member of this household who didn't have a problem modeling a pinny with me! :-D
I really should edit the photo, and have a thought bubble coming from Mighty (the dog)....he's looking at our daughter who's taking the shot, and thinking "what the hell do these two think they look like!!?!!" :-D
The pocket on James' one is maybe a bit low...I did it like that because I quilted it with the idea of using it as an oven glove, and I thought that lower would give it more flexibility...I haven't put it to the test yet though.

Instant knitting gratification!!...I have a new Nintendo DS lite(yay!), which I really don't want to get scratched in my bag, so I made it a cosy (to go with all of the other ones that I made for my phone..ipod..keys..sunnies...my handbag contains nothing but cosies!).
I used the same basic pattern as with the phone socks, but cast on extra stitches (30 in total), and just knitted until it was the length of the DS. The yarn is Daisy by Seansheep, the same as I used for my Unbiased bag, but this time in a brown...(yep, I'm still working my way through my Seansheep stash :-))

....and as for my fabric stash, I laid out a couple more bag blocks for my handbag quilt...now I just need to get working on their embellishments :-)

Pinnies are back!

I love the practicality of wearing a pinny (apron), but of course, have hated the 'Hilda Ogden' stigma that usually goes with it, so in the past, I haven't bothered.......but.......that's about to change :-)
Now that pinny's are less laughable (oh ok...so maybe my girls will still laugh at me!), I plan to make some more...maybe even matching His'n'Hers :-D
The main fabric was in a pile of black and white fabric oddments from the Op Shop ($1 for a whole bag full).
The piece was just the right size, and even had the border print as part of the fabric. The checkered black and white for the ties and pocket were from my stash, and the black binding, again from an Op Shop sewing notions goody bag :-)
I have enough supplies to make one more (see!...I wasn't kidding about the His'nHers!!)
....modelled photo's to follow ;-D)

...my invite has arrived...!

...such excitement...I have hardly anything to show you (other than this progress I'm making on my handbag quilt)...but, but, but...I have my invite to Ravelry :-) I'm using my clickertyclick name, as Linda was already taken (ha, who'd o' thought! ;-D)...it'll probably take me a few days to learn how to navigate around the site, but so far, I'm impressed :-) (and very excited!)

How excited am I...!?

...bargain shopping time! :-D Big W are doing the same as last year, and selling off their entire stock of Sean Sheep yarn for 50c a ball (could be 20c within a few days though!)...this time, even their kits of 3 or 4 balls are 50c!










After reading this Sew What! Skirts book from the library, I was inspired to look for fabric in household linen shops...there's a great skirt to be made from a tablecloth, so I looked in the manchester section of Best and Less...the tablecloths weren't the best, but then I spotted the euro sized pillowcases going out for $1.20 each...there is just THE perfect amount of fabric for a basic A-line skirt...so of course, I bought one or two (;-D) !! I also bought a roll of zips for the skirts...?...I didn't know there was such a thing, but how cool is it?!...you just measure the size you want, then zig-zag on the machine, and cut through :-)
Not much progress has been on my blanket (too much time spent shopping!), but I'm really happy with how the flower petals have turned out (and how easy they are).
Thanks very much Leonie and 2paw, for your help with Torchwood (gggrrrrr channel 10!)...a friend helped us out, so we are all sorted now :-) ...again, thanks!
Suzy, congratulations on the birth of Lucie :-) she looks soooo cozy in her new leg warmers!
Penny, I have been knitting as long as I can remember :-) When I was in primary school, we were allowed to take games and toys to play with on the last day of term...hmmmm...you guessed it, I was the one sitting there knitting :-D...(you can imagine how many 'old granny' jokes I used to get....come to think of it, I still do!!!)

A better top for the tube

After trying on my Tube Top with every other top I own (!!), I finally found a combination that I'm happy with. I liked the shrug from my last post, but it is nowhere near as wearable as with my new Rowena...I still need to add straps to the Tube Top so that I don't have to keep 'adjusting' myself, but other than that, I'm now more than happy with it's fit and feel :-)








...like I don't have enough projects started already ;-D...a mindless knitting project was needed this weekend to fit in with some lazy TV watching... (how cool that Captain Jack Harkness was on Doctor Who, after Channel 10 axed Torchwood before the season end,...really, do you think that Channel 10 were even aware that they were buying Doctor Who?! :-D )
After googling to see if there was going to be a second series, I found this program description from the BBC website that really made me laugh: Torchwood will be a dark, clever, wild, sexy, British crime/sci-fi paranoid thriller cop show with a sense of humour - the X Files meets This Life Yep...I think that pretty much covers it!!!...and yes there is a second series with James Marsters guest starring...oh how we miss Spike!
ok...back to my knitting :-D I decided on a mitred square blanket made out of random creamy/beige yarns...they're all different weights and textures, but hopefully, that will be the 'appeal' of the finished blanket...I'm thinking of knitted appliqued flowers to finish it off (I got the Knitter's Bible from the library, which has a really nice leaf/petal pattern in it)...maybe in some pastel pinks, blues and greens...

Spring has sprung!

...at last, I've finished my Rowena cardi :-)
The actual knitting (done on my Bond) took no time at all... the borders, ribbing and button buying took heaps longer!!

...it's been a good week for finishing things off....this is my Coquette Lace Tube Top from Fitted knits. I'm guessing that my gauge was off, as it's not quite as fitted as I'd hoped...it still needs straps adding, so hopefully that will make it more wearable. The grey shrug was another Bond/Knitware creation...I knew that the tube top needed either something under or over it (just ignore the brown singlet :-D), so now that I'm happy with how the shrug looks, I'll make one in the same pink yarn as the tube.The yarn for Rowena was just a cheap Lincraft homebrand, for a couple of dollars a ball, the shrug was made from a few odd balls of 'no band' yarn from the Op Shop, and the Tube Top was 100% wool from Bendigo Woollen Mills.
I like that using the machine means I don't have to worry too much about yarn quality....with putting less hours into it than with a handknit, I'm not overly concerned about how well it will wash, or how long it will last me...(ok, I admit it!...I'm just a cheapskate ;-D)