2015 and it is nearly half way over

My plan when I posted last time was to keep up to date and blog often. Well we can see how that turned out.

I have been knitting heaps, I do keep a list on Ravelry. I find ravelry so good, being able to list my stash and link that to my projects is great. I don't have to look through all my boxes of stash, I just have to go to ravelry and I can see all of my stash. I can then choose patterns to match my stash and then knit.

I will be invoked with an exhibition and sale of my knitting over the June long weekend with the Knitter's Guild in the  Kiama Old Fire Station Community Arts Centre. I have a few things already knit, I hope to sell enough to help my stash enhancement when I have a knitting weekend away to Kandos in July. Even though I am on nearly in the 2nd year of a yarn diet, I have always wanted to knit with Shetland Lace and it is sold at a yarn store in Rylstone of which one of the two lovely owners is where we will be staying in Kandos at the old convent for a few days.

I have been knitting felted slippers, fingerless mittens and baby ugg booties and other items to sell to fund my few days away and buy some beautiful yarn.

Another year nearly over....

Where has the time gone.......I swear it was only April the other week.

I have been busy doing sometimes absolutely nothing. It was going to be the restart year. Get on with life and move forward from a lot of shit that happens in life....well 12 months on and I did try, not very successful at times, but I have survived.

So here I am mid December with a week and a bit to go before 16 days off work, including weekends and public holidays. I can't wait. I have written so many lists of what I want to do and then get a bit realistic and write another list that is more manageable of me getting the things listed done.

Then I think, well school holidays and as I am off the week before and after Christmas, I will take Aahliyah to Sydney Aquarium. She deserves a nice treat as she did so well in her first year at school (Kindergarten). Then the big decision (which I still haven't made yet) will we go before Christmas (maybe less crowds) or shall we go before the New Year......decisions, decisions. Well I am going to leave that decision for now and think about it some more later.

I have been on my yarn diet for about 6 months now, I have fallen of the wagon twice, once to Bendigo Woollen Mills and another time to my local yarn store that closed down (can't knock back a bargain).

I am busy knitting, ripping back, knitting, ripping back, knitting, ripping back....damn I am persistent...a 3 piece baby set for the shows in January 2015. I decided to do a very old pattern that my mother inlaw had her friend knit for my first baby. It was beautiful, not practical even for back in 1980, but never the less it was beautiful. He was a January baby so it was way to hot for him to wear, I remember putting the set on him in the hospital to take him home.....off came the bonnet as it looked silly, then when in the car off came the jacket as it was way too hot, he did make it home in the booties. Another time he did wear it, it kept getting caught on rings and bracelets that anyone who nursed him had on. I still have it somewhere packed away. I will try and remember to find it and maybe take a photo of both when I have finished the one I am knitting. Photos will come when it is all finished....no spoiler alerts as it is for the shows.

I will update my lists here on what to knit etc and see how well I keep sticking to it. I have listed all my stash on ravelry so I can just go there and look for yarn and a pattern on what to knit next.

I have enjoyed a knitalong on Ravelry, 12 months of Dish Cloths. I am all finished with them and I have some really nice dish cloths, some will be hard to use as they are so nice.

Have a very Merry Christmas and New Year and an even better year to come in 2015.

I have been knitting.....honest

I have been knitting, I have been so busy like most people these days, time just gets away so fast.

I have knit so many pairs of felted slippers and still have so much of the yarn still left. I have knit headbands, beanies, fingerless gloves for my grand daughter, both for everyday use and also in school colours for her to wear to school.

She loves the fingerless gloves, although she will wear them for the walk to school, but takes them off at the school gate. She is only in Kindergarten and the peer pressure of fitting in is very well alive.

I will have to get photos of my knitting here soon.

Bendigo Woollen Mills have brought back their lovely Alpaca yarn, only for a short time unfortunately, so today, I put in an order so I can have some in my ever growing stash. It seems to multiple faster than I can knit. Another reason my stash is growing is the fact that my most favourite local yarn store will be closing in September this year. Damn it. But they are wonderful women who I knit with at least 5 times a month so I will still get to hang out with them at KITGO (Knitting in the Great Outdoors) that I started, Wollongong Stitch N Bitch, Kiama Knitters Guild and every second Tuesday night which now will be at a new venue and not at their lovely shop C.R. & K Daisy Designs.

Daisy Designs has a sale on called "end of the row" sale. So I have been making the most of that.

But all good things must come to an end......and I now realise I have enough yarn to last more than my life time, so I will need to cut back.   I will see how that goes.

Happy Easter Weekend

I have been off work recuperating from an operation, and have been making the most of my time knitting.

I finally finished my Peasy cardigan, not sure if I can call it that as I messed up the pattern, so the yoke is nothing like it should be. I need to buy some buttons and then it will be complete. In will get photos.

I have completed 2 cotton dishcloths for friend and a pair of fingerless mittens for my grand daughter.

I have also finished 4 pairs of felted slippers in various sizes. I am trying to get the size correct to fit my grand daughter.

Autumn.....waiting for cool weather

It is 4 weeks into autumn and after the last week of heavy rain, today the sun is shining, it will be another 4 weeks before it starts to cool enough to start thinking about getting warmer clothes out. I can't wait for autumn colour to start coming through.

I have finished listing all my stash on Ravelry, When I first joined I didn't see the sense in doing that, but now I have, I wished I had done it earlier. I love the fact that I don't have to go searching through many tubs of yarn when I want to knit something, I now just have to look in my stash on Ravelry and I can look at what projects other people have done as well.

I am still knitting my cardigan (Peasy pattern) it is a slow knit being all stocking stitch now. I have made a couple of pairs of felted slippers, a couple more dishcloths and I am currently knitting a drop stitch scarf in Knit Picks Precious in Pearl colourway. It looks really nice, I am loving the way the colours are knitting up.

 These two dishcloths were apart of creative knitting new stitch knitalong over 4 weeks

 this dishcloth is on the  12 months of Dishcloth forum on Ravelry, this is the March cloth for St. Patricks Day.

 These are knit with Bendigo Woollen Mills Murano wool. They felt well.

 These were made to a size in between child and Women's for my grand daughter, I used Cleckheaton California, it felted so well that they ended up the same size as the original child's size which would fit a toddler. So now I need to see if I can get another ball to make them a bit larger again to fit her.

Loving the way this is turning out.

dishcloth knitalong

I am in the knitalong for a dishcloth a month on Ravelry. I have finished the February dishcloth. It is a very pretty pattern. My grand daughter got a pre-loved wooden dolls cradle this week, it had a piece of foam uncovered for the mattress, so I made a cover, a pillow and slip and a sheet. I thought the dishcloth pattern would make a nice blanket for the doll cradle, so with two strands of 8ply pure wool I knit the same pattern instructions using same amount of stitches, knitting the repeats once more, it fit the cradle perfectly and my grand daughter loves it.

February is going to be "finish projects already started" to get them out of the way. Today I am back knitting the baby jacket I started around new year.

Ooops!

I missed blogging in January. My plan was to blog at least once a month....I need to take back control of things I love to do after a shitty 2013.
It seems like many are facebooking instead of blogging....I miss blogging and keeping up with my blogging friends.
I have joined the dishcloth a month knitalong on Ravelry. I have finished the first one ...January theme was a Cupaccino dishcloth.
Today 1 February I am off to KITGO a knitting group I started that is Knitting In The Great Outdoors. Today we will be meeting in a park at Shellharbour near the ocean swimming pool. It is a hot summer day so a swim will most likely happen while there.
My current knitting on the needles is a beanie by Jarrod Flood, Koolhaas, I am knitting it in Wendy Traditional Aran..
My goal this year is to keep knitting from my stash, I know I need to buy yarn for one thing this year so I will see how I go with my stash busting.
My other knitting for January is a 3 piece baby set it is currently waiting to be sewn together and finished.

 

I am back home after a lovely day knitting with great knitting friends, it was so nice with the sea breeze.

 

 

Tonight I finished Koolhaas beanie. Yah, my first item for next years show is finished.

 



and now it is October

were is this year going? I was planning on blogging more and we can all see how that went......it didnt.
I havent done much knitting, some felted slippers which I sold at the old fire station , a scarf for my aunty's 70th birthday on 1st September. I have knit a sample size of felted slipper for my grand daughter to see what size to make her, I need to sew them up and wash them to felt.

A woman I work with has just had a premmie baby son and I have knit him a tiny beanie with another one on the needles.

i have been a bit down lately with a pain down the right side of my neck and right arm whenever I would sit, this was excruciating pain which lasted over 8 weeks, with many different treatments which only gave temporary relief until I would sit. I havent had the pain for about a week now, so I am hoping it wont re-occur.
I bought a second hand pine low TV unit from Vinnies charity store, it was a bargain at $135. I will have to take some photos. I just took one with this tablet, now to work out how to publish it in my blog.

Nearly Tax Time and the middle of the year

where has all the time gone.....I will be thinking about Christmas very soon.

I have been so busy knitting for a sale at the Old Fire Station Community Arts Centre in Kiama with another sale coming up in a couple of weeks, I have been forgetting to take photos.

DH and I have been busy painting the inside of our home now that we are along in the house again. It is so quiet, we miss our family but they are enjoying being out in their own place and we are enjoying being home along again.

I have turned my son and daughter inlaws room into a guest bedroom, well in the process, the painting is done and the bed nearly put back together. My grand-daughters room is now my craft room...yahoo a craft room all to myself. I have started to move all my craft things from the study to the new room, a big job and a great way to remember exactly what I do have.

I have finished two projects for my grand-daughter, one I didn't get photos of, the black swing type cardigan, no buttons, what a bonus. Over the weekend while she was having a sleep over with us I finished her thick (20ply) very colourful top it is a sleeveless top with a hood with the side seams done up with two large buttons on each side and 3 large buttons on the front from halfway up to the top, very cosy and warm.

So back to the felted slippers for the Old Fire Station in a couple of weeks.....winter has really hit here, not that it is as cold as where a lot of you are from, but for us here on the coast when it gets down to tops of 12 Celsius, we really think it is cold. I had to get the gas heater out on Sunday to warm the house, not too bad going to not have to turn it on till now, even though most of my friends think I was mad, but it you haven't got warm clothes on in the house then the heater is not going on to warm you up in shorts and t-shirts, that is just a waste of gas and money.

We are in the middle of some very heavy rain and wind which has been going for the past couple of days and will be calming during the next day or so, don't mind the rain, I don't like the wind.

C. R. & K Daisy Designs Fairy Meadow - Annual Knitters Retreat

Its that time of the year! C.R. & K Daisy Designs Knitters Retreat ….everyone is welcome!

Date: Friday 3rd May to Sunday 5th May!
Venue: Mt Keira Scout Camp
Cost: $180.00…this includes food accommodation and classes! (BYO)
Theme for Saturday night: Spooky

Classes for Saturday: Tunisan crochet, exhaust dyeing and two coloured crochet.

Special guest presenter Claire Sullivan!

All stock sold during the weekend will be discounted by 30%!!!!

Contact Rae on 42854531 or email: raeheaton@hotmail.com

February has been and gone

How fast is this year going, it is already March. My knitting has been busy, messy and enjoyable.

I had my felted slippers at work and was asked to make two more pairs. I was very happy that people thought they were so nice. I was fortunate that I had already decided to make more pairs mainly for selling at the Old Fire Station in June and had purchased more of the Murano yarn from Bendigo Woollen Mills.

I knit both pairs fairly quickly and then put them in the wash, here was my first brain fade, I put them in with a full load of washing and obviously not hot enough water, so back into the washing machine with 2 pairs of jeans and up the temperature of the water, they came out a bit better, but something was terribly wrong with them, they weren't all nice and soft and colourful, there were a bit rough and dull. So back into the wash again, they did shrink a bit better, but still a bit rough. So back to the knitting of another 2 pairs, this time I put them through the wash twice with two pairs of jeans, beautiful. So those two pairs sold.

I knit the February Dish Cloth (Ravelry) which was in true Valentine's Day pattern, I knit mine in a white/pink Peaches N Creme cotton, I love knitting this cotton, we don't have anything like it here in Australia, I did manage to buy some last year while in America, and in hindsight should have bought a lot more of it. I have tried knitting two 4ply strands of cotton, I have knit 8ply cotton and it isn't as thick when knit up as the Peaches N Creme. I may try two 8ply cotton together and see if it comes out closer to what I want it to be.

I finished another Patons Heirloom pattern in Mauve Bendigo 4ply Luxury, and both the mauve set and the pink set are now with the beautiful twins.

I knit a silk cowl for myself, I bought the Habu Silk in Santa Barbara at the Loop N Leaf shop, it is a beautiful shop, I also bought some lovely Alpaca while there and the Brooklyn Tweed yarn needed for a beanie pattern of his.

March is starting off very busy, yesterday was a funeral of my great aunt aged 97, the last of my grandmothers generation of her family, now it is my Mum's generation of the McEwan clan with the eldest being 82 years of age. It was really nice catching up with that side of the family, a pity it seems to be at funerals these days that we do catch up. My aunty Grace wanted to out live her father, my great grand father who died at 93 years of age, when I was a teenager. I have some great memories of both my great grand parents on my mothers, mother side. The McEwans came out from Scotland around 1880 to Joadja (southern highlands of NSW) where my great grand father was born. When he married my great grand mother (from Mauritius), they lived in Wollongong until their deaths.

I have my youngest son's wedding on Tuesday then my husband and I are going on a road trip to Craigie and Delegate to see where his great great grandparents and family are buried. Then going to drive down through the snowy mountains, through Thredbo to Khancoban, each winter when we went skiing I always wanted to see what was past Thredbo. Then from there to Corryong VIC, where the Man from Snowy River is buried, from there we will head to Albury then onto The Rock to visit with friends before returning home.

January Knitting....still some to come

January has been a busy month all around. I have had 3 family birthdays, my wedding anniversary, some holidays from work (only 12 days before and after Christmas through to the New Year). Going back to work during Summer holidays is hard, especially since we have been having some very hot weather.

The past three weeks we have had some terrible bush fires across the country and some very close to where I live. We haven't had much rain and the ground is very dry with most of the grass being a very dry brown now, which makes bush fires extremely dangerous. Now since Saturday night we are having heavy rain with some parts of the east coast of Queensland flooding and now heading down the coast into NSW and expected to hit Sydney tonight, I am 2 hours south of Sydney on the coast. I live between the Mountains and the Sea as many would say. The ocean is a 5 minute drive to the east and the moutains a 5 minute drive to the west, a very beautiful place.

On Australia Day (26 January) we not only celebrated that day, my family also celebrated my parents birthdays (Mum 23 January (75 years) and Dad 29 January (76 years). We had a BBQ, with my eldest son and his wife cooking Surf and Turf, very nice, one of my nieces made a White Chocolate Mud Cake and decorated it beautifully. We talked about when my sister and I where growing up, we laughed so much my stomach hurt. I love having family get togethers. The weekend before we were down the south coast at Moruya with my husbands fathers family staying on a cousins property, playing cricket, feeding the horses, chooks etc, we had so much fun.

Having fun is very addictive, I can't wait for more great weekends with family, friends or even staying home pottering around the yard with my grand-daughter.

My January knitting has been hectic too, I am on a mission this year to knit more of my stash, which seems to grow more than shrink. I think I have enough yarn to do everything I need to, but having said that, I showed my sister my felted slippers and now she wants some for all her family.

I did finish some WIP's, not old WIP's but WIP's none the less. I finished my short sleeve cardigan with Celtic style cables up the front, I really can't wait for cooler weather to wear it. It won second place in Albion Park Agricultural Show the other week. I finished one of the two baby sets I am doing for a friends newly born grand daughters, and I am now on the second one.

I have been a part of a knitalong on Ravelry, the Mystery Sock knitalong, I am loving this, I get a bit more of the pattern each week, and the best thing is that I get to do other knitting while I wait for the next part of the pattern. The last part of the pattern is due on Tuesday 29 January which will finish them off with the toe.

I have knit a pair of fetching fingerless gloves which I gifted to a cousin's wife the other weekend as part of a "pay it forward" thing on facebook. I finished my grand-daughters lacey shrug and she has worn it so that is even better.

Earlier in the month I knit two pairs of booties in old pattern styles, these will go to Knit4Charities in the next couple of weeks. Last night I knit a wash cloth in hot pink for myself to use as a face washer, it is part of a Ravelry knitalong, dishcloth a month. Today I will get back to the baby set, I am up to the sleeves on that, then the yoke is knitted in one piece with the fronts, back and sleeves. It is a very old pattern which is in the new Patons pattern book Heirloom Collection, it doesn't have a name for the pattern it is Style 3 in the book. I had the same set when I was a baby, then I used it to dress up my dolls. I change the bonnet and knit it as a beanie instead. Not many...if any...people use bonnets these days, they all like beanies.

It is a nice rainy day, not too hot and not too cold, which is very nice after the heat we have been having.