Exchange Package!

Look what the postman brought me!! Last year I participated in a knitting exchange with one of my American groups. My partner didn't reciprocate. But another friend on the same group sent me these gorgeous hand made goodies, plus some yarn to make up for it. Aren't people just lovely?? Especially knitters!

The socks are knitted from Cascade Fixation - which I simply must have, dear reader!



This lovely friend made me two Knitting Totes - one in fabric, don't you love the appliqued sheep?

The sentiment is one I love too! "So much yarn, so little time"















The other bag is knitted, in diagonal stripes of black and green - so pretty!







Both bags are reversible too - and they have lots of useful pockets sewn in for carrying patterns, needles, scissors, chocolate, etc - all the absolutely necessary things for a knitter to have handy!

And because she knows I knit baby things for charity - a whole bunch of nice yarn too!


Some Patons Astra, some Red Heart Super Saver Pink, a ball of Sensations Smania which will be very interesting to knit up - and three balls of a gorgeous boucle type yarn, in dark greens, oranges, blues and browns ( see one on the bottom left)

Thank you so much dear friend!!

Sweet Little Set

This pretty little set was so easy - quick too!

The yarn is Big W's Carnival Effects - Fair Isle colour #5

Done on a circular needle as socks you get a fairisle effect - on flat knitting you get cute stripes.

Booties are Goodbye Yellow Brick Road Booties. Hat is an invention. Jacket is a version of mine which is a cross between the Rectangle Sweater and a little jacket from the Lion brand site. I crocheted round the edges of the jacket hat and the booties in Panda Angoretta in mint green. Now I have found some more of this yarn - thanks Karen - I will make a little blankie to match - another donation for Knitting for Brisbane's Needy .

Two Tomtens and Two Leggings Sets

Made two little hoodies from some donated anonymous yarn - almost like a chenille in thick chunky delicious red - this is the Elizabeth Zimmermann Tomten pattern which I love and am (almost) as addicted to as the Baby Suprprise Jacket!

The original yarn had obviously been wound into balls - although I am not sure it had ever been knitted up before. It smelt strongly of cigarettes (ewwww!) and had bits of grass and stuff in it too. But a nice warm wash in shampoo and a rinse in apricot conditioner made it good as new, and it smelt much nicer too!

I made two little leggings sets - oh so cute and such pleasure to make. The leggings pattern is the Happy Baby pattern free on line. The pink Jacket is Rindy's Raglan, and the Camo jacket is a Tiny BSJ.

The pale pink yarn is - you've guessed it - Panda Angoretta - the darker pink flecked with blue, red , yellow and green (honest!) is Cleckheaton Fleur - this little set is sooooooo soft and cuddly!










I LOVE this little set - so cute!! I invented a little round beanie to go with it - and tried to make the booties as much like army boots as I could!




These boots were made for marching.........
They aren't really different sizes - I just photographed them with one slightly forward of the other.

Camouflage is Big W Carnival Effects yarn. The muted yellow is a Cleckheaton Crepe Yarn - machine wash wool.

All these little outfits are being donated to Knitting for Brisbane's Needy.

Two more blankets finished

This is for my friend Di in Michigan - made in her favourite colours, christmas Red and Christmas Green.


On its way to her as we speak!







This has been promised to Di for a long time - *sigh* - life, and other knitting does get in the way some times!






The lavender and pale green and blue blanket is for Marlene in Bendigo - another friend I have never met before.









I was showing off this blanket at the Caboolture Library - Knitting for Brisbane's Needy have been meeting up there, teaching ladies to knit and just doing a Knitting Awareness program - and another lady was so taken with it that she asked me to make her one too! This next one won't be exactly the same as Marlene's, because I hate doing the same thing twice, but it will be in the same colours. But this second one will be a paid project - whoo hoo!

WE WON!!!!!!!!! YAAAAYYYYY!!!!

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Back on line..................

Finally back on line after a glitch with my computer - could receive and send emails, but could not access Internet Explorer. However after help from a good friend (God Bless you , Annette!)I am now using Firefox Browser, so should have not too much trouble, once I get the hang of the new set up. So will be able to update everything now!! Talk about suffering withdrawal - no blogger, no ebay !!!!!!! AaAgggghhh!!

It felt like being a moth - I kept circling the light but unable to get in!!

Here's what I've been busy with........

I don't believe it - 16 days since my last post !!

But I have been busy! I finished a comfort shawl for my friend Di in Michigan - in her choice of her favourite colours - Christmas Red and Christmas Green. I had some lovely soft Capricorn in Red and some TLC in Emerald Green in my stash - exactly right!! Here's the result.

Good old Capricorn - it makes the nicest, softest cuddle blankies - especially when a tight budget means some of the wools are beyond my price range!

I've made a few little sweaters too!

The Lavender set is from an English DK Leaflet - Wendy or Peter Pan I think. Made in Lavender Angoretta - the hat was made from the bonnet pattern from the same leaflet - but I didn't like its shape so turned it into a little beanie.

The one that looks like "hundreds and thousands" is just my little version of the EZ Baby Surprise Jacket - haven't a clue what yarn it is - someone gave me one ball of anonymous acrylic yarn - and I love it - it is so soft - and I have enough left over for little boots too.

I haven't made the original EZ Baby Surprise Jacket for yonks - so thought I would enjoy myself with an old favourite. The blue is the original full length sweater - the pink is knitted without the extended piece at the bottom. The blue is just Panda 8 ply - the pink is made with Angoretta Pale Pink and Deep Apricot, with a Panda Magnum Print in Pinks and Apricot ( I think - there was no band on the ball!)

This little jacket is the 5 Rectangle Baby Sweater by Carole Duvall. Isn't it cute? Of course I didn't do it as 5 Rectangles - too much sewing up for me - so I knitted the back, then down one front, then down the other, picked up and knitted the sleeves on double pointed needles, and only had the side seams to sew up! Then I crocheted round the edge! The yarn is Red Heart WW "Watercolor" and I swear I did NOT plan the way that variegation lined up exactly on the front! Great fluke, huh??? I could not have planned it better! The buttons were just some odd ones in my stash - everything just came together by accident. I bought a big box of Red Heart two years ago and I love it for baby stuff - despite what the yarn snobs think!! The trim is Angoretta in Lavender by the way.

It must have been the week for Old Favourites - first the Baby Surprise Original pattern, then two from the Precious Layettes for Baby booklet (Leisure Arts #3202)

No doubt you are aware, dear reader, that I never leave a pattern alone, nor do I always follow the pattern very closely! This one is, believe it or not, "Baby Blue", design #3 from the Precious Layette booklet - without the two colour stitch design. I love the shape of this little sweater, the yoke in garter stitch is so darling - I just did stocking stitch sleeves and body. I used pale pink Angoretta with the yoke in a deep strawberry pink anonymous yarn - can I help it if people give me yarn with no ball bands on????

I just happily receive - I can usually tell if it is wool, or acrylic and usually I just love the colour so much, I just say a grateful "thank you"!

The sweet little t bar booties are from a free pattern on the internet, from Mandy via a Lion Brand blog. They are called "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road Booties" so if you Google this - you should find it with not much trouble.

the second one from the Precious Layette Booklet was the design #2 "Precious" - but instead of the lacy pattern as in the original, I knitted the whole thing in garter stitch. I am so delighted withhow it looks - just the cutest, squooshiest little baby sweater - I made it in Robin feelings in the palest pink and crocheted all around the edges in a deep strawberry pink - well I had a bit left from the previous set, you see! The booties are the Goodbye Yellow Brick Road booties - I am so in love with these!!

Well that is what I have done this past 10 days or so - as well as unpicking all the attached i-cord on my daughter's Adult Surprise Jacket, then undoing all the crochet edging, then the sleeve seams, and frogging back to past the buttonholes, so that I can make the front a bit bigger and the sleeves a bit longer. *Groan* Now I am in the midst of trying to re-knit it - I have got as far as the mitred front-and-neck-bands and am praying that this works and I don't have to rip the whole lot out and start again! One thing I have learned - attached i-cord is NOT very stretchy - so I shall have to use a larger needle when I re-do it. Fortunately my daughter is a little bigger in front than the back - so just increasing the two fronts will do it! Well back to the needles! Oh, and I have also started a cuddle blanket for my friend Marlene in Bendigo - who is not a very well woman right now. I shall use the Red Heart Watercolour, some Pound of Love in Lavender, and some Angoretta in palest Green, all of which are Marlene's favourite colours. I am trying to ignore the basket of UFO's lurking under my desk!

We Need Your Votes!!

Some of you may know that I belong to a fantastic group of ladies called Knitting For Brisbane's Needy. We are a group of ladies, about 120 strong who knit and crochet for needy people, homeless, abused, aged whatever, originally in Brisbane and environs, but now reaching to needy people much farther afield.

We have just been informed that we are one of ten finalists in a cash competition to win $5000 for our group. this money will be a godsend, to cover costs of our postage and gas, wool, needles etc to get our donations out to the people who need help desperately. At present we each pay for our own yarn, postage and gas. Most of us are on fixed incomes, pensions or disability allowances. At least three of our members use wheelchairs themselves.

Won't you help us to win this cash?? Voting is very simple. Go to either one of these links

www.femail.com.au/cash-grant-finalists.htm

www.girl.com.au/cash-grant-finalists.htm

Scroll right down to the voting form - click on Knitting for Brisbane's Needy, scroll down a bit further and enter a 4 digit code and submit your entry. Do that for about 100 times LOL! or until finger starts to fray. If you get a Poll Error notice, go back and try again - those pesky little letters and numbers can be hard to read!

At present we are running FIRST ! with 28% of the vote - this morning we were 2nd - so every vote you can spare the time to submit helps A LOT!

If you are interested in joining our wonderful group - we have members in UK, USA, Holland, Belgium as well as all over Australia - here is a link to find us

http://au.groups.yahoo.com/group/knittingforbrisbanesneedy/

And by the way, this small group has knitted or crocheted more than 2000 items since its inception in January 2006. Pretty good huh??

Mary Cairncross Park

Paid a visit to Mary Cairncross National Park the other day. It is years since we were last there - and we may never go again. What a shame they put a cafe and kiosk there. Now it is full of busloads of noisy people - and the haven of peace it once was is no more!

It used to be very quiet, and there were lots of birds and wildlife evident. But sadly, no more. The crowds of people obviously kept any self respecting native wildlife at a distance.

Apart from the ever greedy bush turkeys, wandering around near the picnic tables, not much native fauna was to be seen.

The views of the Glasshouse Mountains are still breathtaking - but the huge mansion being built in the valley, which can be seen in the picture above, means that the peace is gone from this once lovely area of the Sunshine coast Hinterland. Others will surely follow.

Progress??? I wonder.

Finished At Last!

Finished the sweater for Rick - and although I am pleased with the result, I can't say I am sorry to see the end of it!

The colour is actually a lot bluer than this photo shows it to be.

It also seems a lot bigger than I expected - and hey, I did swatch - and I did measure accurately! But then it is meant to be a generous fit. It has taken me longer than any man's sweater I have ever knitted before - by the time I finished it only half an hour ago I was heartily sick of it!

This is the second time I have made this sweater. If I never see this pattern again it will be too soon!

Back to baby sweaters for me!

A little Twist and Twirl set

Finished this little set last week in time to take up to Montville. I thought it was a pretty set to give them an idea of the type of thing I like to knit.

The committee of the Sunshine Coast Crafts wanted to see as much of my knitting as possible at their last meeting to decide it my work was good enough to sell in their lovely little craft shop! Although I shan't be selling this one it is already earmarked for my group, Knitting for Brisbane's Needy on Yahoo Groups!

The answer is yes!

Not only baby knits but adult knits too.

This is my dream come true!


Not only will I be selling my knitting but I get to work in the shop a minimum of one day a month (voluntary work of course) to help out. The shop sells everything crafty - sewing, wood turning, jewellery, pottery, the most gorgeous felted hats ( I nearly bought one on the spot) all by local artists.

I have until the first Monday in August to be accepted officially - so am using the time to stock pile as many little garments as I can.

In the meantime I am knitting like a maniac to get the blue wool yarn knitted into a sweater for Rick (daughter Simone's S.O.) I ripped out the whole back the day before yesterday - aaaaagh! because it was going to be at least half a size too big!

And horrors! Simone's beautiful ASJ is too small and I have to undo all the i-cord, and then rip back the sleeve cuffs and re knit them much longer, and then unpick back to before the buttonholes (yes, all the mitred bands and neckband) and re-knit it to make it a bit less "firm" - the silly girl measured a sweater like I asked her - but instead of the most loose fitting and comfortable one that I asked for, she measured a close fitting one - which of course affects the math considerably when you are making a button up jacket! *Sigh* I have just enough left over wool to do it too thank goodness.


The little set above is the Twist and Twirl Layette - took about 8 hours knitting to make both jacket and hat. I am finishing a diagonal baby blanket to match - and there will be sweet little sockies too.
http://www.p2designs.com/images/patterns/set-TwistTwirl.html

And here's what is next!

This gorgeous pure wool was on sale at Big W - and so tonight I get to cast on a sweater for Rick, Simone's SO!

This is actually his last year's Christmas present - so I am going to make him a lovely aran patterned pullover . The colour is a bit paler than the picture shows - it's called Dark Petrol.

I am so pleased - 100 gram balls for $2.67 each - bargain ! - and it is machine washable.

The classic pattern is from an old Woman's Day magazine pullout - I have made it several times before - it only needs the extra length - amazing how short men wore their sweaters a few years back! I have been so bogged down with the Adult Surprise Jacket these past weeks - I can't wait to get started on this!!

Surprise, Surprise!!

Remember this?

The start of The Adult Surprise Jacket?

It's finished at last!!

It was supposed to be finished for daughter Simone's birthday, 26th June, but it wasn't, so bought her some gold earrings instead for the actual day. ( The jeweller's had a sale!!)

This is what she will receive in a few days' time!

It's hard to believe that shapeless blob metamorphasised into this elegant jacket!

I am very proud of it - I actually used attached i-cord from cuff to cuff and around all the edges!

The neckband was mitred as were the top and bottom corners of the fronts. Next time I do one though - I shall knit the i-cord twice into each corner of the front bands to stop that curve.

See? And thanks to Marilyn in Texas who gave me some great tips and advice I finally girded my loins, and gathered up my courage in my hands, and after weeks of procrastinating - I did it!

And loooooooook! how good it looks.

I remembered a tip from someone on the knitbabysurprise group too - that you make the i-cord from the wrong side and it rolls to the front. Sure enough, I tried it from the right (public) side, and it rolled to the back. So frogged it and re-did it from the wrong side.

I found the best video of attached i-cord technique on http://www.knittingatknoon.com/

Here is yet another picture of the finished article. I made nice long ribbed cuffs that can fold back. And if the sleeves are not long enough for Simone - well, I can just undo them and knit down to make them longer! Yes, the sleeves are lengthened downwards after the body of the jacket is done! And I defy anyone to find where the stitches were picked up to do that!

The buttons ? Well - anyone who knows me knows that I have hundreds of buttons! But after an hour of searching I could not find the exact right buttons for this jacket! Then - light bulb moment - I remembered a button-through linen skirt in the wardrobe that I never wear - being calf length, it had about twenty buttons in a bronze metal. Voila!!! Perfect !!

Nodding Violet after the Rain

This is Violet after the rain - isn't she beautiful??

And this is outside in the middle of winter folks!

And this is Grandma's Knitting Place ! One of them anyway - this is our back deck. On the table is Violet being given some TLC some weeks back now. Hasn't she improved??

The towels are the dogs' - I didn't notice the raggy old things on the line when I took the pic!!

Sick of my Sunsets yet?

We had some rain - only for 24 hours - and oh it was so blissful - albeit very cold and windy too.

We really need so much more though.

However - we always get glorious sunsets a day or so after - this is right across the road from our house - literally a few hundred yards away.

You can see it was cold - the guys fishing are wearing thick jackets - their legs and feet are bare though - brrr!

Every sunset we have here is different.

We have had some very high westerly winds lately - oh so cold! By our standards anyway - 60 degrees F sometimes!

Here's what a sunset with a high wind looks like! Gorgeous!!

More Baby Knits

Have been very slow on the knitting front since my last post!

However, my friend Penny posted a little jacket and blanket on her blog, which was the subject of a couple of nasty comments,because of the colour. I had some yarn in a lovely nutmeg brown - so shamelessly copied her idea - used the same baby jacket pattern and made up a little blanket identical to hers!! Told you I would Pen!















The colour is a nutmeg brown and very attractive - all from a couple of odd balls in the donation bag! It is very tiny - just preemie size.


Here is a little sweetie - Rindy's Raglan - all for not quite one 50 gram ball of anonymous wool, from a batch bought from Wangaratta Knitting Mills - thank you Karen, it was lovely to knit with. It has little nubs of white fluffy stuff throughout the blue. The white collar and cuffs are a left over scrap of Angoretta. The buttons are little white bunnies - from daverun on ebay of course!

Another little bit of scrap yarn made this next little jacket. I really am trying to use up my stash!