Christmas is the time of year....

...Time for joy and time for cheer!

I LOVE Christmas and am a bit sad that it's all over for another year, the kids had a fantastic time despite the terrible weather and the wettest day of the entire year in our area! I did a bit of Christmas crafting, not as much as i would have liked though so next year i'm starting MUCH earlier!

Pictured is a Blossom Bolero patter by stitchymama and knitted in Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece, a pair of Flippant thong socks for my MIL, i actually LOVE these lol and a knitted pear decoration for a swap i was in, i think that pear is my most loved FO of 2010, very pleasing indeed :) There were a few other knitted and sewn items amongst my gifts ;)

I hope everyone had a very merry Christmas for 2010! I'll leave you with a pic of the kids on the tramp that Santa left, they've been on it every day and not even monsoonal rain can stop them lol!

Every wool obsessed mother's dream realised...

My little girl cuddled up on the couch knitting with mummy - bliss :)

mid-year resolution check....

Hmmm, well as we race toward the 6 month mark of 2010, i've been thinking back to my new year's resolution of destashing the fabric and yarn here. I'd have to do the math but i think the incomings and outgoings from the stash equal a bit of failure on that one - oops!

SO, i'm officially back on the bandwagon, i'm resisting temptation and being inspired by what i have on hand here again and have heaps planned from my stash. I'm recommitting for the 2nd half of the year!

Got a couple of FO's to show off since my last post - all i think from yarn that i ordered in specially oops lol

A pair of mismatched ulitmate longies - i redid the legs soo many times but i think the colour change was just slightly longer on the tail end of the ball and even alternating didn't fix it. These are now residing in their new home and i wish that i had have just did one leg jsut one more time. They do, however, have a beautiful feel and are made from lovely cestari superfine merino, very soft and thick :)

Also, finally did a dress for Nina she's a tall 6yo so there's a lot of knitting there! It's made to Tikki's Eden's Eve pattern in Anchor magicline of Nina's choosing, it fits great, she mostly wears it to bed though lol! At least it's getting used though and it's the only one of my recently FO's to use stash yarn - oops haha She's also wearing her crocheted hat from her talented Nanny ;)

A purple Rainbow dress for my niece, fits like a glove and is too cute for words lol! Got the ribbon from Spotters for less than $1 and the yarn is BWM luxury 8ply.

Finally i have off the needles my first finished adult garment knitted to Andrea Pomerantz' 'Rosamund's Cardigan' pattern using Cascade ecological wool - this yarn i can't go on enough about, i love it, it's minimally processed Peruvian Highwool. My cardigan actually smelt like a farm animal when it was wet blocking, for some reason i found that exciting lol. It's soo wearable in our mild climate here and will be perfect for winter days here in the tropics :) I'll have to get FO pics when my husband is home but i've got a little teaser - lamo haha

Sewing challenge done and done....

Due to shamefully failing my March challenge, i got stuck in and got my April challenge done and dusted today. Ok i'm thinking of adding some embellishments but for all purposes...

I used Vintage Ric Rac's tutorial for a one hour bag. Having the one hour time fram made it a challenge within a challenge and i've also never made a hand bag as such either. SO that makes this little number a triple whammy. It's made for my little princess Nina, who hasn't cast her discerning eye over it yet - finger's crossed - with some stash scraps that i've had for an age and a couple of buttons that i've had for longer lol.

And just to prove that i can make a softie i'm linking the most recent softie i made to the March challenge even though she was made in Feb and has seen quite a few cuddles since then and her felt is starting to pill! Made to 'One Red Robin's' Chibi Doll pattern, i love her, too cute :)

cough, cough....

That's been me all week, bleurgh, i really HATE having a cold, i see it as a waste of my time and energy, and you don't get much sympathy either, not that i really want it haha

Despite being a bag of germs i have managed to push out a few FO's although i have failed my March challenge to sew a softie on time haha. I will finish it cos the fabrics were expensive and it is destined to be a gift for my new niece or nephew to be :)

First up, i'm supposed to be at a baby shower as i type and have spent all last week creating this little masterpiece, knitted to Tikki's rainbow dress pattern, NB size in Bendigo Woollen Mill's luxury dyed by Woolly Butts, 'spinifex' colourway. I love this patter and yarn together - too cute!

Second, for my old friend Buddy, a faithful companion for the last 15 years, he wandered into our yard as a stray and never left, i'm so glad you did Bud :)

Looks like the proverbial sitting there like that but dog jumper's do don't they lol! Knitted in Bendigo Woollen Mills classic 5 ply 'Poseidon' (held double for a bit of thickness for him) to Cosmo's Coat pattern so simple and very adaptable to any dog.

Lastly, a bit of a first here, my first tension swatch haha I bought this wool with view to do a Rainbow for my niece, but alas i think it is just too thick for our climate for a dress, it will instead turn into a vest or similar for Nina who has claimed the wool as her own. I'm in love, it's like knitting a party!

The yarn is Cestari superfine dyed by Ladybug loops :)

Happy weekend!

kez

A wrap up...

A wrap up of the last couple of weeks a few FO's sneaking their way out of here and some stash busting as well :) I'm really starting to notice some *ahem* room, in my wool basket which is VERY exciting!! Got a little ways to go yet and my 'queue' is getting longer by the second!

I've got some secret squirrel stuff off the needles and from under foot done as well but i won't post pics yet just in case!

First up - my first pair of longies for Oscar! Done using Shannon's pattern from Crafty Desire's and using her gorgeous gradient split yarn. I think they look pretty awesome and have already been put to good use as trackies in this cold rainy weather we're experiencing all of a sudden. They aren't lanolised yet and i haven't managed to get an action shot but, my, they are sooo soft and look completely funky!! I like them sooo much that i'm knitting another pair the same with plans for a third pair too all out of stash! I'v had this 'alien' yarn sitting around for aaages. It was the last ball left from a stocking at Woolly Butts a while back, i'm so happy with how it's knitting up, perfect for little boy's pants :)

Also i've cracked the whip on myself with the March sewing challenge, i made a start the other day as soon as i got my drool-worthy selection of fabrics from Kelani, but i finally interfaced it all and started sewing it together today, i'll do all the handsewing this week and then the finishing next weekend to come in before the end of March! That's the grand plan anyways lol

Back to my knitting now, i can't waste a perfectly good rainy day on the puter when i could be curled up knitting on the lounge mmmm even the thought is warming!

til next time

kez

February Challenge - check...

The knit challenge - and i must admit, i found it a challenge from start to finish. I had NO idea what i wanted to sew with knit. It even seemed hard to come by anything nice! Finally i went with the age-old fallback, a dress for my daughter using the Farbenmix Olivia pattern. Great pattern, beautiful shape and very wearable. I played it smart and let Nina choose her own fabric, it was a bit 'fine' and i would have preferred something a bit 'meatier' for ease of use but it's all part of the learning experience :)

Here she is modelling :) The hood has since succumbed lol, she said it made the whole thing look ugly so i took the scissors to it LOL.

Perfect: NO

Wearable: Yes

Repeatability: High

Two out of three ain't bad!

2 arrivals this week...

Yay for me! The slightly mad quilt lady held a giveaway earlier in the year and i was the lucky beneficiary! It's a georgeous little toddler dress made with the most georgeous fabrics, it's little recipient - my niece - is winging her way around Aus right now and the weather hasn't permitted me to get a decent pic of this little beauty but isn't it precious! Thank you sooo much ms Lottie :D

Also the arrival of a bundle for me from crafty mama's, this gorgeous knit fabric chosen by Nina will be turning into a farbenmix Olivia dress as part of my February sewing challenge from My Favourite, i've traced off the pieces and cut it all out now to find the time to put it all together! Never really sewed with knit before so i'm looking foreward to this challenge :)

FO drought...

In the middle of a bit of FO drought here and what makes matters worse is i feel as though i have too many things on the go to be 'allowed' to start a new project, i've got some georgeous gradient dyed yarn there that i can't wait to cast on and i've also got a craft swap to get creating on but all these WIPs are dragging me down, they are clockwise from top, piece #2 of a jumper for me, 2 shawls, an ishbel by Ysolda Teague and a Simple yet effective by Lauren Chau, a jumper for Oscar and 20 hex's of the blanket :)

I've commited myself to one hex a day of the blanket - balance not to be carried foreward from previous days efforts lol so in light of that i think i'll tackle the 2 shawls first, that will make some room for me to cast on some of the yummy wool i've got waiting for me!!

From little things......

Pattern: Hexagon how-to by Attic24

Yarn: Red Heart Eco-Ways

..... Big things grow :)

Remember when inspiration struck me in my previous post, Well a trip to spotlight found me diving into 20 balls of the above, nicely coloured, admittedly a bit nasty and most importantly, heavily discounted yarn. It's touted as 'eco-yarn', but on closer inspection only 30% of it is made from recycled materials, the rest is good ole Acrylic, but for a blanket, i'll admit that it's a good material especially as the recipient probably wouldn't be keen to look after anything too fancy!

I've got 9 months to fashion this little hexagon into apx 150 of the buggers to form a spectacular rug - here's hoping!!!!!

kez

Friends and FO's... and when inspiration strikes!

Friend being my sister, she came around today and did a bit of stash busting for me by making herself a zippered pouch like the one featured in "The Crafty Minx" book, i didn't get a pic of it but it looks totally cute in purple gingham and blue paisley and i've discovered a novel way of shifting fabric out of my stash to make room for new stuff, let someone else at it lol!!

A few FO's today, i bought this cute tea towel at my local oppie a couple of months ago and i knew it was going to turn into an apron cos it's kinda special, i don't know whether i've finished tinkering with it or not, maybe an embellishment in the girl's hair to tie the contrast fabric in better... The blue paisley used to be the most unflattering 'dress' i've ever seen in my life - honestly looked like a theatre scrub dress and i could NOT imagine it being worn anywhere else, it wasn't homemade either lol!

The little pinwheels - i think this is my favourite knitting pattern and the best $8 i ever spent haha The pink is for my niece or nephew to be, there'll be a blue one joining her and the blue hat is for a lovely lady at work who is expecting a new bundle very soon, i'll try and squeeze out a change roll between now and the end of the week if the mood takes me but seeing as i just made part of a birthday gift not due til April today hrmmmmmm..... lol!

Back to my title - when inspiration strikes, last night i decided that my very good and wonderful friend 'needs' a beautiful crochet blanket for her birthday, seeing as it took me 3 years to complete my last crochet blanket even the 9 month deadline could end up being shaky lol

I can't decide between this and this but i'm leaning toward the Babette and spent the better part of 2-3 hours last night going through many, many online yarn stores to find the right yarn for the job, stay tuned, this could get exy bwahahah

kez

In the nick of time!!!

In true "Kerrianne" fashion, i have raced the deadline for my January sewing challenge and just beat the buzzer!

I had promised to deliver oven mitts and i have only upheld half of that bargain, mainly due to a dramatic undercalculation of exactly how much batting i had on hand lol! But i do have one mitt to show and will endeavour to make the other sometime in the near future! The pattern comes from my new book "The Crafty Minx" by Kelly Doust.

To make up for it i made not one but 2 theatre hats for myself to wear to work, now that i'm officially a working girl again, this fabric has been sitting in my stash going mouldy for at least 3 years haha At least i got it cheap! Fits the bill perfectly and if i chance to meet you at work, i'll be the snazzy one in the 'cool' hat hahahaha

Check out everyone else's efforts here, it's been great sifting through them and great for us all to spend some well deserved time working on something for ourselves (gasp) Thanks again Carolyn for starting up and hosting this great meme!

Now i can start thinking about next month's "knit" challenge.....

Kez

Accountablility...

With me and exercise, it's all about accountability, i won't do anything unless i'm held accountable for it, so what better way than to keep myself publically accountable as well as privately hehe. I'm not tooo bad when it comes to my health, i try and eat well, am vegetarian and also like to think that i'm regularly active.

So here it is for everyone to read that i will endeavor to include some form of exercise into every day and go to the gym at LEAST 2 times a week.

Today i intend to go to gym for a 1hr weights session - mainly because mum and dad a picking me up hahaha

a pic of me being active on Rottnest Is

In other news, my beautiful big girl is officially a big grade oner!! She was a bit nervous but loved her new teacher and was lucky enough to be in the same classroom as last year. A bit dissapointing that we weren't able to aquire a 'big grade oner' shirt, but we'll have one as soon as they come in off back order and i'll post up a pic accordingly :) here's one of her enjoying some baking with mummy over the school holidays ahhhh

Home again, jiggity jig...

Having spent the last 4 days in the veritable paradise that is Blackdown Tablelands, we're now back home and are literally hitting the ground running! Tomorrow, my big girl is starting grade 1, Roll's straight back to work and it's also the last day of my maternity leave :(, i've so enjoyed doing the SAHM gig, but "business is business and business must grow, regardless of crummies in tummies you know", so i'll be back to the daily grind - sort of - only 2 days a week but still!!

I had grand intentions of some WIP wrestling whilst i sat sipping tea in the highlands, but alas, young Oscar foiled my attempts at every pass and i only managed one FO, a measly NB pinwheel beanie for my new niece or nephew to be, it was pink and there will be a blue to match so i'll post them both up together :) I did get a few rows in on some projects while O caught some zzzz tho haha

Got to do a few walks although somehow i ended up doing the same one thrice! Mook Mook being my favourite, it's so breathtaking that a pic can't do it justice! (see top for a feeble attempt)

Also soem rather exciting news for me, the slightly mad quilt lady kindly offered up a gorgeous little dress for giveaway and little old me who can't even win a chook raffle, came up trumps!! Thanks sooo much, i intend to pay your lovely favour forward at the first available opportunity :D

Hope everyone enjoyed a great Aussie day!

As for me, i'm hitting the hay

nighty nighy

kez

Finishing fever

And so it seems, i am EXCELLENT at casting on and starting projects but then it seems i get finishing fever and start on something else... hmmmmm

Well i have managed to push out one little FO, a deja vu pinwheel hat which will be making it's way to it's rightful home this afternoon, i'd love to do one for Oscar but since his nanny is so talented he's got an endless supply of cute crochet hats and alas doesn't not need me to add to his collection

Despite the name of my post, when it comes to my sewing challenge, it seems i have the opposite, despite being in desperate need of a new pair of oven mits (i'll post before and afters for full effect) the only thing i have done towards my challenge is drawing up a 'pattern' - oh the shame, i'll sew them up next weekend - i promise!!

Anyone who LOOOVES the feeling of being cleean will looooove Kelly's soap, she's having a giveaway, fingers crossed for me, i've got a drawer full of her divinity but as they say, it won't go off! :)

So that's me for the week, i'll be diligently working on my UFO's but don't put it past me to CO something else, my stash busting has put my creative brain into overdrive and suddenly my meagre stash has turned itself into a veritble paradise of future FO's and it's hard to resist hahah

Happy Australia Day

kez

A few bustin' FO's

I'm trying with all my might to get some fabric and yarn moving from this place haha My efforts over the past week have culminated in a few measly offerings lol. I've decided to start weighing my FO's and counting how many grams of yarn i'm knitting, i feel that yardage would be a more accurate indicator of how much time etc is going into a piece but it's way easier to get out my flash digital Tupperware scales and weigh stuff as it flies (*cough*) off the needles hahah

FO this week to date are the back of a jumper for mee - not photoworthy yet but an accomplishment none the less. A Leafy shrug for Matilda using bedigo woollen mills 8 ply cotton in inferno, pattern by stitchymama, a boxy pouch for me using this tute - totally awesome and soo fun to make, Nina's going to do one too - can't wait to see how it'll come out and a change roll for Rolley's cousin due for a bub very soon :) I'll try and squeeze out a pinwheel hat for her as well, my arm 'might' have to be twisted haha

Lastly a little gem from Saxon's exploits with his mum's camera - a lovely angle of myself that i rarely get to see, thanks Sax, come Sunday i won't have my heart in my throat every time he makes off with the camera, the big boy is turning 4 and as such will be getting his own haha He's gonna love it <3

Ta Ra

Kez

Hiking and vintage awesomeness

Today Rolley took me on the most fabulous hike literally on our back doorstep - actually it starts a few K's away but it was like a mini-holiday for me. It's really made me think about how we really should know the treasures that are closeby and enjoy them. We hiked 12 Kms through the local National park, after the recent rains the creeks were all full with around 10 creek crossing it was inevitable that someone would end up in the drink. No guesses who went for a dip on the first crossing lol, i blame my shoes *cough*. It was wonderful and i want to thank my wonderful husband for organising it behind the scenes and then almost dragging me to the track. Admittedly i only did it to enhance his final days of a great holiday but i got a lot out of it too :)

Now onto vintage awsomeness, my mum's new year's resolution was to clean out her spare room of 'stuff. Fair enough, she saved 2 little treasures for me. First being 3 packs of Japanese Origami paper, which the kids turned into ice-cream's, rockets, boats and other treasures. I somehow managed to remember how to do a crane although i failed to record it on film lol. The second is this completely AWESOME vintage collection of sewing patterns bought by my Grandma in 1959, there are men's, women's, kids and babies patterns in there and the thing is in absolute mint condition. I so totally want to make myself one of the vintage dresses and hopefully Oscar and my toddler niece will benefit from a bit of sewing from it too. It's so nice to think that she sat here in this very house and sewed from and i'm about to do the same thing :)

I'm off to look it up on e-bay to see if there are other's around

toodles

kez

op shopping and baking...

Mum took me for a run down to my corner op shops - i have two ~5mins walk away. Got some great finds - i looove the bassinette sheet, not 100% sure what it's turning into yet....

The teatowels are turning into market bags, not sure for who, might *gasp* keep one for myself!

Most awesome is the embroidery hoop, it's smoothed from use and is an old Singer one, they're probably a dime a dozen but i've got a quilt that i want to do that i'm planning on handquilting so it'll be great for that :)

In other news, Nina and i hit the kitchen and made some AWESOME lemon and orange syrup cupcakes. Although my little helper disappeared after she'd cracked her promised egg and magically re-appeared when it was time to lick the bowl, how strange lol!

They taste awesome, i'm planning on working my way through this book that Roll gave me for my birthday last year, i've made probably around 8 or so of the recipes so far - all devine mmmmmmm

a stash busting we'll go.....

Ok, so 6 days into my stash bust new year's resolution, i've had a little bit of output lol, today i attacked the extra bag of fabric that won't fit in my designated fabric storage box but i didn't want to get rid of. I've got an upcoming baby shower to help the creative juices along!

First a little swing top made out of a pillowcase which i think is adorable despite the gaudy buttons! Even though the little girl told me she wanted it and chose and sewed on all her own adornments she now admits to me that she didn't want it after all grr lol. I will likely leave the ric rac on, place a smaller pattern piece over the top and make it into a baby top :)

Pattern from Madquilter

Second sewing effort of the year is a naff little change roll, it's so cute i want one for Oscar, have to get around to that, i used a pillowcase as a template for sizing and a layer of batting for a bit of softness, some stretch french terry and some soft flannellette. Topstitched in zigzag contrasting thread.

Knitting knews - the little vest is done, too cute and my sister predectably loved it, not sure if it will ever get worn as i'm predicting a boy for her lol, the vest's brother is just a bit nicer IMO, done with lovely hand-dyed yarn and a pleasure to knit :)

Pattern: Milo by Georgie hallam

Yarn: BWM luxury 8ply dyed by whimsical wool and panda starshine in pink.