Blog Break

I knew I hadn't posted in a while, but then realised it had been over a month. I've thought about posting but it's been feeling like a bit of a chore so I've decided to take a bit of a break until the New Year and then reassess the blog a bit.

So Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone and I'll update next year.

Scrummy Yarn

When we were in New Zealand I bought some lovely yarn.

This is some gorgeous hand painted yarn for me (no plans yet)

and some merino, possum and silk yarn for a scarf for my mum. It has been started and hopefully it'll be done in time for Christmas (it takes much longer to make things when they are a surprise and you have to keep them hidden!). I've maybe done about 15cm at the moment and it's sooooo gorgeous and soft that I might have trouble giving it away once I've finished.

New Zealand Photos

Here are some photos from my fabulous trip to the North Island of New Zealand. We were only there for six days and it would be great to go back there eventually and see more, particularly the South Island, because what I saw of New Zealand was really lovely. I did take a lot more photos than these, but I couldn't swamp the blog with all of them!

We went to Rotorua, which has lots of thermal activity. We went to one of the thermal parks and saw a geyser which was really cool, as well as lots of hot pools, craters and other stuff. We also went to the Agrodome where we saw a sheep show, and I may have come away with some wool (but I'll show you those photos in another post).

We also went to Napier, where most of the town was destroyed in an earthquake in 1931 and now a lot of it is rebuilt in Art Deco style. There has been a lot of restoration and we went on a guided walking tour as well, and we really got a lot out of that.

It's Lamb Sock

I've been picking up a few nice pairs of socks for a little while now, planning to make a sock creature, and I finally got around to it. All hand sewn, but it really didn't take long and it's sooo soft and squishy. I didn't stuff it too firmly because I liked the feeling of squashing it when it was just plump but not too full.

I used the lamb pattern from Sock and Glove: Creating Charming Softy Friends from Cast-Off Socks and Gloves.

My Stitch Markers

It's taken me a little while to post these, which is naughty of me, because they're really fantastic. These are the stitch markers I received in the Witches Have Me in Stitches (markers) swap on Ravelry. Some of them have been to New Zealand though because I've been there on a short break. I'll have to post some photos from there as well!

All the photos are taken on a background of some of the lovely paper that my swap partner Madaco wrapped everything in, that was all hand stamped. Isn't it gorgeous?

We have a procrastinator, a turtle, a disc and some grapes to represent Bilious, the Oh God of Hangovers.


A dragon, Fate and the Lady’s dice and some chain mail (for Vimes or Dwarves) which has 8 rings.


Some Discworld directional markers.


Something that I have to reread Wintersmith about (I guessed a Kelda, but wasn’t quite right), a feegle and a wonderful elephant ring to hold all my markers (or for VERY chunky projects!).

Discworld Stitch Markers

These are the stitch markers I made for the Ankh-Morpork Knitter's Guild stitch marker swap. I traced images from "The Art of the Discworld" book onto shrinky dinks, which was lots of fun. My mum thought they were very cool when they shriveled up!

The Witches Set

The Watch Set

The Random Set

The Octarine Set

AMKG Altoid's Tin

I was in another Ankh-Morpork Knitter's Guild Swap on Ravelry. It was just a small swap of some stitch markers, but I did have fun making a cute container to put them in.



I've been wanting to do something with my altoids tin's for a while, and this got me off my butt to do it. The design is the group's coat of arms.

Garterlac Dishcloth

Another dishcloth! I've found the couple I've done are a good way to have a go of a new stitch without starting a massive, overwhelming project.



Made with Peaches and Creme in Pink Lemonade, and the pattern is from here.

Long Lacy Shawl

This has taken me a couple of months to finish, but I'm really happy with the end result. As well as being a nice shawl, it's light enough that I can scrunch it up and use it as a scarf.


The pattern is the Long Open Shawl and once I got into it, it was easy to memorize.

My new craft room

My sister has just moved out...so I stole her room, which means I get more room for all my craft stuff (must try not to increase stash, must try not to increase stash) and it also gave me a chance to go over what I've got and organise it a little bit (and make some room in my own wardrobe)

Here are some photos:

WIP Wednesday: scrap blanket

This is going to be a WIP for a long time, as I'm just adding scraps to it every now and then. I haven't decided yet if I want every flower to be in a different yarn or double up on some. I'm imagining the finished project (eventually) as a riot of different coloured flowers.



The pattern is the Cyanne blanket. I'm going to be good and keep weaving in the ends as I go (maybe)!

Ballet Dinosaur

I got asked to make this for a little girl who likes dinosaurs, and pink and I'm really happy with the finished project (especially the tutu, which was some fantastic lace I found at Lincraft).

I modified this dragon pattern to make it more dinosaury and it worked really well!

A real dish(cloth)

A fellow raveller in the Australian Knitters Group on ravelry was doing a peaches and creme order so I thought I might order some. I ordered a pack of twelve balls and two grab bags which had loads of stuff in. This is made from a partial ball in one of the grab bags and I ended up with just enough to finish it. Yay!



The pattern is the Round Dishcloth and it was pretty easy in the end.

Made with Peaches and Creme in Winterberry.

Hat and Scarf Set

It's one of my nieces birthday soon (her first one in Australia), so what better to celebrate the 'wonderful' weather in Melbourne (they're from the UK) than a beanie and scarf, although they're fairly light ones.



The beanie is the Divine Hat which is a lovely pattern that I've been looking for an excuse to make.



The scarf is the Double Drop Stitch Scarf which was a pretty quick knit and the drop stitches were a bit of fun to do.

Both were made with Aria by Lang Yarns. The beanie would have taken one night and the scarf maybe two or three.

Stitch by Stitch Images - Issue 7

It's the waist that bothers me. The argyle top is kind of nice, but the gathered knitted waist? Not a good spot to add bulk.

Seed Stitch Scarf

It was my brother-in-laws birthday recently and as I'd noticed him wearing scarves around it gave me an excuse to knit one. I did start crocheting one, but I was using pretty chunky yarn and it ended up a bit solid. So I decided to knit my first scarf. I did it in seed stitch and because the yarn was so chunky it went pretty quickly. I also think it's my first knitting project without mistakes. Yay! And I used some stash yarn. Double yay!




It's very thick, warm, soft and squishy.

And the winner is...

Drumroll

...Miri, with her suggestion of Lois McMaster Bujold. I've read one of her books ages ago which was pretty good, so I'll keep an eye out for some more.

If you can email or message me on Rav with your address I'll get your prize sent out later!

Placemats

My younger sister has bought a house and is moving in soon, so for a housewarming gift I made these placemats for them (they are going with a lot of browns and creams in the stuff they've bought). They took me all day because I kept getting distracted. Having your lap top on the same table as the sewing machine is a bad idea.

There are eight, and they are pretty much all the same, although one decided to miss out on the photo.

In other news, just two more days to offer reading suggestions in the bloggy competition.

We have a prize (winner to be announced later)

So here's the lovely prize for the reading suggestions competition. Feel free to offer your favourite books from any genre really. I'm always up for broadening my reading horizons.

I thought a vaguely book themed prize would be good, so we've got a woven bookmark, and a mini needle book, handy for a mini sewing kit?(tute from Girl on the Rocks)

I've also been tagged for a meme by librarylass
Here are the rules:
1. Link back to the person who tagged you (see above)
2. Mention the rules on your blog (you're reading them now)
3. Tell about 6 unspectacular quirks of yours
a) I don't like pasta. It's yukky.
b) I have a terrible sense of smell. This may explain a) a little.
c) I am a chocolate fiend
d) I am a bit allergic to cats. Occasionally owners will jokingly say "I hope you're not allergic to cats" if I start sneezing in the consult room. I generally claim hay fever.
e) I'm not really a fan of lunch. I'm often not hungry and I don't really like stuff that has been sitting in my bag all day. Although I could probably eat three breakfasts a day.
f) I find doing these things a challenge. I'm guessing it's taken me about 40 minutes to do this (although I have been wasting time on the internet doing other things).
4. Tag 6 following bloggers by linking to them.
I'm going to skip this one. I've spent too much time on this already.
5. Leave a comment on each of the tagged bloggers blogs letting them know they've been tagged
See above.

Reading material request

If I ask for help I should offer a prize, hey?

I read quite a lot but at the moment when I go into a bookshop or library or op shop I've been a bit 'meh' with the book selections. I'm not sure if it's just that there are too many books and I'm paralysed by choice but I need some help with book selections.

I tend to like fantasy but will definitely branch out and many of my favourite books are in other genres. Lately I've been loaned a lot of Tamora Pierce/Brian Jacques books so I'm a little over young adult/teen fiction. That said I'm planning to read Twilight, but I'm saving it for when I go to New Zealand - figured I needed to plan ahead for something to read on the plane.

If you want to see other books I've read over the last few years you can look at my Goodreads page and feel free to add me as a friend, just send me a bit of a message telling me why you're adding me.

Anyway, offer some suggestions and then I'll use a random number generator to organise a prize for someone. The draw will be Monday the 25th of August and I'll try and work out a prize before then.

Anyway, unrelated pictures (sorry about the terrible quality, they were both a bit rushed)! It's a couple more beanies I've made on request! Yay!

Finished Socks (Oh yeah!)

Finally finished my socks. Only realised into the foot of the second one that I've been twisting my knit stitches. Oops. But I learned something from it!

Reversible Tote Bag

I made this bag as a project bag for my partner in the Australian Knitter swap on Ravelry. In it I put a little zippered pouch with some knit-knacks including sewing needles to weave in ends, stitch markers, a tape measure, scissors, hand cream, chocolate etc. All stuff that I figured that even if she had, she could do with extras.


The pattern was from here on craftster.

That's it for the swap goodies I sent out. There was a couple of months of swap time so I kept getting ideas for other things to put in there.

Water Bottle Cozy

Here's something else I made for the Australian Knitters swap on Ravelry. The bag itself is crocheted and the handle is woven on my Eolia loom.


I didn't use a pattern, just crocheted a base large enough in single crochet and then used a pattern from a stitch dictionary for the bag. I can't remember what I used now.

Crayon Rolls

I made these crayon rolls for the two sons (twins) of my swap partner for the Australian Knitters swap on Ravelry


Apart from dodgy pocket measurements (which was my fault, trying to alter the pattern without thinking through it enough) it was easy and worked out well. I got the pattern from Skip to My Lou.

Stitch by Stitch Images - Issue 6

It took me a little while to work out exactly what bothered me the most in this one. The fit is alright and the colours while eye watering aren't that terrible. In the end I worked out that it was the co-ordination of the two. I'm sure that kid didn't volunteer.

Woven Tote Bag

This is another project for the Australian Knitters swap on ravelry, made for the daughter of my swap partner.

In progress

Finished!

It's tabby woven on my Eolia Rigid Heddle Loom using worsted acrylic yarn, ladder yarn and some ribbon, and then lined.

Look what the postman bought me!

It's my ravelry swap goodies from JulieB. Yay!




The fingerless mitts are gorgeous. They are soft and warm, and worn every moment possible. The chocolate is gone, the tea is yummo and the owl on the card is a cute little badge. I got so spoiled, lucky me!

Swap Shawl(s)

It feels like I've been waiting to post these photos forever. I took part in an Australian Knitters swap on ravelry and my partner has received. Yay!

This is my main project for the Australian Knitters group swap on Ravelry. I made my partner a shawl in some lace weight merino I had (held double), and it is nice and soft, and hopefully warm enough to take the chill off in Darwin without being too hot and thick. I also made a teeny one for a Wednesday Adams doll she received in the last swap from someone else.



The pattern is Eva's Shawl which worked up quite quickly and gave a nice lacy shawl that provides a bit of warmth.

Stitch by Stitch Images - Issue 5

With a couple of potential candidates from this issue I ended up choosing this one because of the title "Fuzzy and Flattering". Well they had the first part right...