Samantha Collage

Just playing around with pics - still learning how to do all sorts of things. Anyway - four views of Sam's "Bad Hair" 

Samantha's Bad Hair Day

Sam won the best girl with bad hair in Grade 3 - never had fun like this at school when I was her age!! 

Caitlin aka Fuzzy

Bad hair day for a 6 year old!! this was taken after a happy Bad Hair Day at school!! You can see why she is commonly known as Fuzzy!

We have been losing rather a lot of teeth - the first tooth earned her $10 from the tooth fairy - we have been wiggling loose teeth like mad to make more money - because "the tooth fairy has a LOT of money, Grandma - she is very very rich!" 

Bad Hair Day!

Thursday Oct 27th was bad hair day at Morayfield Primary!!

Samantha and Caitlin aged 8 and 6 made a great effort.

Sam (on the left)won the prize for the best girl in Grade 3 - onya Sam!!!!! 

Bits and Pieces

Did a silly thing - stayed up all night talking to knitting pals in Newfoundland, Yukon and Ohio. Plus sending pattern scans to various other knitting buddies.

So although I had a nice long lie in today - I am feeling like a wet dishrag. One needs sleep more as one gets older I find - not the other way round as is popularly believed!!

Knitting with some of my new Supersaver in Banana Berry - my eBay purchase arrived on Monday from USA - 36 skeins of assorted variegated yarns. Funny - I have used this yarn before - I am NOT a yarn snob - and it has always been reasonably soft to use - but this one feels like harsh coarse string! So a wash in cream shampoo and a rinse in good conditioner plus a go in the dryer is called for!! It will soften up - I am just wondering if this is an idiosyncrasy - if only certain colors are like this? It has a LOT of blue and green in it. The other colors that have predominately reds, yellows, oranges, etc don't seem so harsh - or is it just me?

Making a happy little garter stitch sweater in Banana Berry S. Saver and Royal Blue Panda Angoretta - sadly a discontinued yarn ! Boo hoo! I have some of it in a bright Pink, and a delicious cream as well. If I can find any more of it on eBay I will grab it no matter what. At least it is Australian yarn and so the postage isn't crippling.

Waiting waiting waiting waiting for Workers' Compensation to process my wages for this week. Looks like the claim wasn't processed in time for last Wednesday's pay day- so have to wait till next Wednesday - in the meantime not a brass razoo and it's only Friday. Eric and I can cope but we have 7 cats and 2 dogs, and they are getting sick of invented meals. Why is bureaucracy so unco-operative? They know at head office that the claim form certificates have to be in every week on a Thursday to make it for the next pay day - so why hang on to them?

STOP PRESS!!!! Just got a phone call - they have cash waiting at the office for me right now !!! The girl in the office did it specially for me! What a sweetheart!

In the meantime, the knee is still very sore - and I have to rest it. I love those instructions - whoo hoo! no need to feel guilty about knitting and knitting and knitting!!!!!!!!! All day while I listen to talking books or watch TV!! Have great plans for all this lovely new yarn - I love COLOUR!!! Have a few little odds and sods to sew up and get out of my unfinished basket.

Then it 's time to start on Sandee's afghan ( Blue Hearts) and her brother's throw ( Georgia Tech, complete with bee) - finish a sweater for DIL started last year - sweater for stepson and daughter, and grandson. These are to be Christmas gifts. Ha ha ha - optimist!!!!!!! Also make a Christmas exchange. What does one make for a Christmas exchange? A gift? Or does it have to be a Christmas thing - ornament - or similar??

I am making Christmas gifts this year - found some nice little bathroom crochet items - know exactly who will get them too - plus a small jar of brandied apricots - Sylvia loves my crochet and my apricots. Making ginger and melon jam too, and some crochet edges for some handtowels - bought a heap of thread on ebay a few months back.

Next time dear Diary - will outline Christmas gifts more thoroughly.

My Third daughter Vanessa

This is Vanessa - my little friend in Dayton OHIO. She has become my adopted third daughter!!
She is expecting her first baby in February 2006. Oh really? I hear you say ?? Sarcasm is not nice!!

The baby is a girl - and I am trying to make useful little garments of all sizes for her right now.

I have a daughter Simone, and another "borrowed" daughter Lisa here in Australia. Vanessa has adopted me for her #2 MOM!! 

Another of Dave's buttons

Here is one of the teddy buttons - I have red, blue and yellow with white outlines now.
Where to get them ? - ebay Seller? - daverun Am I pleased with them ?? - YES!!! Did they cost a lot ? No WAY!!! 

Someone parked their Roller (Rolls Royce to you plebs lol) outside our house a few weeks ago - I couldn't resist taking a pic - the house has been painted since this was taken too - so it looks a little less decrepit now!

Wouldn't it be nice........................ 

Have you ever seen such beautiful buttons?? I got them from daverun on ebay - for the princely sum of .99 for 10!!! I bought about $25.00 all told - and he only charged me $2.50 US postage - even though I live in Australia!! 

Set #4

This is the fourth set I finished this week - the jacket had been made for a while.

Yes it is another shorter version of EZ's Baby Surprise Jacket - I love this little pattern!

Made in Royal Blue Panda Angoretta (why oh why did they discontinue this lovely soft yarn?)
with variegated Red Heart Supersaver in Starbrights. What a yummy combination. The buttons are from my favourite button seller in the whole world - daverun is his ID (Dave Rundell from Florida) He has the nicest and cheapest buttons - and get this gals - he charges only $2.50 US for postage - NO MATTER how many packets of buttons or WHERE you live in the world!!!!!!

I have been sending him pics of my work using his lovely buttons to show him how wonderful they make my little garments look. These teddy buttons in yellow with black cost me about $3.00 US for 20. I have them in red, and blue and yellow with white as well. Plus chickens, geese, helicopters, penguins, dolphins, toadstools, frogs, kitties, dogs, ice creams, birthday cakes and popsicles!!

I will post another entry showing the birthday cake buttons onVanessa's baby set. 

Invented bonnet #2

Okay this is how the back looked - almost a heart shape!!

And talking of hearts - Marilyn from SE Texas put me onto a heart shaped dishcloth pattern which makes a great base for a bonnet too!! Just make the heart - pick up all round and voila! a bonnet. 

Invented bonnet

This little bonnet turned out beautifully - I started at bonnet edge - cast on about 45 stitches - knitted in pattern for as long as I thought the crown should be - then cast off a third of the stitches on the next two rows. Continued in garter stitch on the remaining centre stitches until it was as long as the cast off/bound off edge - then cast off/bound off, sewed up the two side seams, then picked up along the new bottom edge - every ridge only (ie every other row) - and knitted a garter stitch border with an eyelet row for a crochet cord tie to be threaded through. Voila!! I will post the back view on another entry - haven't worked out how to do more than one pic at a time yet!! 

Set # Three

Another little set - this time for a larger size baby - probably a 1 year to 18 months old.

This is the full length version of the Baby Surprise Jacket - and I think this must be a speed record for this jacket - I started knitting in the car at 11 am on Monday, on the way to visit the specialist for my damaged knee. (see previous post) I finished it at 3 am Tuesday morning - put the buttons on it on Tuesday at about 3pm.

This one used up some odds and ends - the grey is Disco 8 ply acrylic - again - well I got a lot of it on ebay earlier this year!! The lemon is some bits of odd balls of Robin Feelings ( I loved this yarn and they discontinued it!) the variegated is the Disco grey knitted together with one strand of anonymous Aussie 4 ply - baby fingering to you US gals!! The buttons look good - I only had three yellow and two white duckies, but it worked really well. Maybe Vanessa could use it for the following winter after she has her baby girl?

The pants are the Happy Baby Pattern - I can do this in my sleep now! The hat I invented.

Think I will make plain sockies with a turn down rib cuff.

It is amazing how much waiting you have to do when going to a specialist for a work related injury!! Hence the astounding amount of knitting I got done that day. Mind you - I was having an MRI and while I was in the tunnel I was thinking what a shame I hadn't brought plastic needles - I could have continued knitting in there! But I lay there and mentally went through all my buttons in my stash to choose the ones for this jacket! I never waste a minute of my precious time ! 

Another finished set for Vanessa

This one worked out so well- this time the shortened version of Elizabeth Zimmerman's Baby Surprise Jacket. Pants again - the Happy Baby pattern - so simple and quick. This time done on 5 dpns - try as I may, I still get faint ladders! There must be a trick to this. I could use a circular with magic loop but it is too fiddly for me. The two hats were an invention of my very own!!
I will make little sockies I think to go with the set. Or I might make little boots with a turn down rib cuff like the pants and jacket.

The yarn was Disco 8 ply acrylic in gray and Red Heart TLC in Country Club.

And that is the last of the Country Club - but I will get some more on ebay from my favourite seller - Sheryl! I received 36 skeins of Red Heart Super Saver by mail yesterday - I had been waiting since mid August and they arrived 25th October! but Surface mail is so much cheaper it is well worth the wait. It's like Christmas for me here - because the Super Saver is in such glorious colours!! 6 of each colour - Bikini, Pinata, Berries, Banana Berry, Fiesta Jewels, and assorted skeins (6) Watercolour, Summer Breeze. At the same time I received another parcel from Las Vegas (yes I am an ebay addict) of Red Heart 4ply in Burgundy, Baby Pink, Apricot and Baby Blue all solid colours. This 4 ply is nothing like Aussie 4 ply which the US gals call baby fingering! This 4 ply uses 5mm needles!! But the solids are wonderful matches to all the variegated Super Savers. I still have a little left of Ocean and Starbrights Super Saver, plus a Pound of Love in Lavender,and some TLC in Emerald Green (when will I use it?) I still have over 15 huge plastic storage boxes of Aussie yarn as well!!! So why am I wasting time on here, you ask, dear Diary?? I should be knitting my fingers to a blur!! 

Finished set for Vanessa's Baby

Finally finished it!
This little set is adapted from several patterns - the jacket from Precious Layettes booklet #3202 - the pants from a free leaflet Happy Baby - the booties from a free internet pattern - the bonnet an adaptation of the Precious Layettes Bonnet.

The yarn is Disco 8 ply acrylic in pink - a lovely deep soft rose - and Red Heart TLC in Country Club - a gift from Susie in USA in return for a Precious Layettes #3202 pattern booklet! Love doing favours like this - we are both happy with our swap!!

Vanessa's baby girl is due in February - in Ohio where she lives it will be cold - with snow. I have several more sets to send her. I love this gal - she is like a third daughter to me - such a sweetie. 

Grandma's Knitting

Grandma's Knitting

Well here I am again - October 25th - lots of new knitting done - and now I am laid up with a damaged knee!

16th October - a Sunday - was jusst leaving work after being called in to do a nice little 5 huors shift at the Deli - and it was pouring with very welcome and long awaited rain - and bang - slipped on the tiles outside the shopping centre's doors and down I went - onto my left knee!! Agony!!! Sitting in pouring rain crying with a lady holding an umbrella over me till help came. Now I am off work - only being paid an average of what I earned over the last month or so - and seeing myriads of specialists and being poked and prodded and stuck in mysterious tunnels for something called an MRI! While I was in there, I amused myself by mentally going through my stash of buttons and choosing which ones to go with my current Baby Surprise Sweater. Done in shades of lemon and grey - this is a record for knitting one of these little sweaters. I started in the car at 11 am on Monday and finished it at 3 am Tuesday morning. I would have knitted it in the tunnel but they wouldn't let me!! Steel needles!!

Pictures in about an hour's time!

Well dear diary - back to rest the leg again. And start another project.

My long awaited Red Heart Super Saver arrived at last today - been waiting nearly three months for it 36 skeins of variegated colours - they are not all here yet - but most are. Including postage they ended up costing me $4 per skein - but as they are twice the size of the skeins of acrylic here in Australia, it works out about the price I would usually pay!! And so much more superior. I am no yarn snob - I knit for charity for homeless and battered babies and children in cold old Melbourne - so acrylics are ideal for this purpose - no special washing requirements.

I also received some very bulky yarns I bought on ebay a while back too - burgundy, pink, pale blue and apricot, solids. Very nice useful stuff. Will make some lovely quick baby blankies.

What a week for ebay stuff - I also got the Pony needles I bid and won - these are not circular needles more like a circ cut in half; so useful and very kind to the wrists and hands. I give them my vote - excellent for flat knitting IMHO.

Buttons from dear Dave Rundell are on the way from Florida. I love his buttons . I sent him some pics of my work with his buttons sewn on. I hope he likes them.

Sopring is here - and the heat and humidity are already making me dread summer - going to be a very uncomfortable December and January I think.

Grandma's Knitting

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