How do I make lemonade from this?

I'm a Christmas junkie. The redder and more glittery covered the celebration, the better (Glitter: the herpes of the craft world). This year was no exception to my usual OTT-ness.





















This is what happens when I go nuts in the kitchen. I forgot to take photos of the 120 gingerbread stars or the few chocolate-coated coffee spoons I produced, but the gingerbread house was a given. It disappeared rapidly on the day, evenly divided between us all (Felix and I got half a roof which is apparently a fair share...).

The day itself was pretty good. Marcus was suitably spoiled with presents, including a small bike and lots of soft squishie toys. He deserved spoiling.




















How can you not spoil someone who looks this cute? (As promised, Sonia!)

The next morning saw us up and out early to drive to Yass. I shall skip over the bad bits: scraping the skin off one of my knees, the car dying on the side of the Hume Highway, the RACV taking TWO HOURS, Felix's sunburn from walking up and down the roadside with Marcus while we waited for the RACV etc etc. Needless to say we got to Yass late.

We left Yass on the Sunday nice and early so we could make it to Port Macquarie nice and early. I was happy, working on my Garden Shawl for the Long Lacy Summer, with Felix clocking up the hours for his L's. We didn't count on the Buladelah nightmare.



















17 kms. Two hours. You can drive faster through a shopping centre. Kudos to the guys in the van behind for offering their beer bong to share. By the end of the nightmare I was driving again, desperately trying to get to Port before dark. Not a chance.

You see, it's been raining in NSW. Since Saturday. Port Macquarie is lovely, except right now it's 23 degrees and 85% humidity. Everything feels damp, including me. My knitting charts are wrinkling up with moisture, and they feel damp to touch. I have never felt so grossed out in my life. Ew. Big time ew.

I suppose the good side is that I'm getting some knitting done, but to be honest if it wasn't for the great company here I would have turned the car around on the Hume Hwy, just past Wallan...

Stitch Culture

In March next year, my husband will be celebrating his 30th birthday. That same day the two of us will take Marcus to our local church to be christened. He will have three godparents: Judith, the ubergoddess of knitting; Jonathan, a reprobate Terry Pratchett fan I've known since high school and despaired of ever since; and Chantal.

I've known Chantal for a while now. My ex-boyfriend and she were at uni together, and he recommended that she visit the wool store I used to work at. I remember a very enthusiastic yarn-ho who freely admitted that she had spent an entire summer indoors playing World of Warcraft. We agreed that knitting was a slightly healthier pursuit (My comment that the brilliance of knitting was it could be performed outdoors was met with "So can Warcraft - that's what wireless is for!").

Chantal once told my ex-boyfriend that if we ever broke up, she was keeping me instead of him. I loved her displaced loyalty at the time; then it of course became true. She embraced Felix as the other half of me, and a man who understands the importance of letting me knit at all times, including at the movies. Her own partner, Paul, gained the reputation as a wonderful man the day he went to a closing down sale in Hawthorn and bought up most of the remaining Rowan yarn stock. He doles it out whenever Chantal deems him to have done something wrong or annoying - a really good idea, I think.

Anyway, this long rambling post has a reason. Chantal has opened her own online store: Stitch Culture. I hereby state that I am incredibly biased and want everyone to shop there. New items will be added every week (Chantal is currently working a full time job and studying for her MBA while she opened the store - mad, I tells ya), and there's a wish list for the unsubtle out there (Hey family! My birthday is next week! Go and look at my list, will ya?). The success of this store couldn't happen to a sweeter, nicer, more thoughtful person than our dear Chantal.

Stitch Culture.

Go forth and purchase. Except for the Madelinetosh sock yarn. That's all mine.

No, I really do knit stuff. Honestly...

This is a blog for knitting. I created this blog solely to talk about my knitting, and how it affects both myself personally and also my life. However...














Seriously, how cute is my son?

(We'll return to knitting next time, I swear)

Finished Objects 2009 - #20

The return of the finished object, hurrah!

Turns out that the vomited on baby jacket could in fact be saved for one reason only - centre-pull balls. That's right. The vomit was on the outside, the nice clean unbiled yarn on the centre. Trust me, the jacket was soaked in eucalyptus wool wash for about half an hour as well!

This is the 5 Hour Baby Sweater, Boy Version and it's a super fast knit (obviously). Not five hours, of course, but what do you expect with a newborn floating around? I omitted buttonholes because I just wanted something I could quickly wrap around him if the wind picks up or something like that.


















I would have dressed Marcus in the jacket but considering it's currently 32C and it seemed a tad cruel.

A sad swag

My mum has had the unhappy job of cleaning out my nana's unit, and sorting out all of her things. My nana, bless her, was a packrat, a trait my mother swears she didn't inherit, but trust me - she did. Ask my sisters!

Nana kept everything. EVERYTHING. My Uncle Greg's First Form report card turned up. The newspaper clipping detailing my calisthenics group success at Ballarat in 1983 turned up (no, you're not seeing that picture anytime soon). Cards from my grandparents 50th anniversary were found, along with close to 100 un-used Christmas cards.

My mum dropped by with a pile of things for me, including my Celtic Hearts Shawl that I gave Nana for her birthday this year. My pile included many many photos of me over the years, including one from my birth, Nana's bible and baptism order of service, doilies, tablecloths and tea towels (the really nice Irish linen ones she never used). Oh, and all this.















So many sock needles! I also love the old Aero 8's (4mm), made back when they used actual steel so a stiff knitter like myself couldn't bend them (I can snap bamboo sock needles. It's a tragedy). The sock pattern book is adorable, but the thing I love most is my nana's First Prize certificate from the Mirboo North Annual Show. She was so proud of her red socks winning, and I plan to keep it safe along with my two from the Royal Melbourne Show.

Time, ever shifting

I seem to be accumulating unfinished projects again, most of which I don't have listed on my sidebar here.

I have my star afghan, a new baby hat, a 5 hour baby sweater, a pair of socks for a Christmas present and yet another lace shawl.

On Ravelry I appear to have even more unfinished projects, but that's only because I never listed them as finished, nor took a action photo. Oops.

With Marcus taking up more and more time it appears that knitting time - which used to be 24 hours a day if I felt like it - is becoming increasingly endangered, something I'm quite worried about. Maybe once I catch up on a bit of sleep (HA!) I can stay up late and knit.

All I need are some more episodes of "Midsomer Murder" to watch as I go!

.....ewwww

First, I'd like to say thank you to everyone for your kind thoughts and lovely comments* about my last post. You're right - I will have some lovely memories of my Nana to pass along to Marcus, and I can look back and smile as well.

As for Marcus... a valuable lesson has been learned.

Never, EVER keep your knitting nearby if you're burping your baby. Seriously.

I decided that a small light jacket was needed, so I started on the 5 Hour Baby Sweater (Boy version) using my varigated Patonyle that I have so much of. I worked through the yoke and the sleeves and had just started the main part when Marcus needed a feed. So I fed him and sat him up to burp him, my knitting next to me on the floor.

Projectile vomit. Over my right arm, over the floor and landing right in the middle of one of my balls of Patonyle. A huge amount.

I'm knitting a hat now.

---

* Except you, Sam. I know just what you were thinking when you mentioned Trixie Belden...

My Nana

The last time I posted I spent part of the morning on the phone to my Nana, Lena (Selena). The day after I had Marcus, Nana was admitted to hospital with pneumonia. Not content with such a serious illness at age 91, she decided to move in on more of my son's limelight by having four angina attacks and a heart attack while I was still in hospital myself. I decided a phone call regarding this outright Jonesing of my son's attention was required...

My Nana is my mum's mum, and I spent a fortnight with her and my Pa during the summer holidays when I was a child. I suspect my parents decided a small child was too much on top of three teenage girls for a whole holiday season. It may come as a surprise to anyone who knows me now, but I was a very quiet child. Hand me a book and leave me alone, and that's exactly what my Nana did. I built up a collection of Trixie Belden books that were the envy of all my friends over those summers, and when I wasn't re-reading them all (what are dungerees, anyway?) I was knitting.

My Nana loved knitting and she once won first prize for her handknitted socks at the Mirboo North Show, something she was very proud of. She had the patience of a saint with me, because when I was younger I didn't like to knit the last stitch of the row. Each time she'd knit the stitch and hand my work back to me to start the next row, all the while knowing I'd need her help in a few minutes. Like I said, a saint.

Sadly, we lost my Nana last weekend. We'd hoped she would last until my parents got back from their trip to Sydney on Wednesday, but it was not to be. She was sweet, kind, honest, funny and loyal. My biggest regret is that Marcus will never get to know the truly beautiful great-grandmother he very briefly had.

What the heck?!?

Who turned off spring? Seriously? Melbourne is firmly clutched in winter's icy grip yet again, and here we have two heaters switched on, one of them around the clock for Marcus. Drying cloth nappies isn't much fun around here either.

The first person to mention rainfall and farmers will be shot. I mean it.

In the meantime, the sudden cold snap has brought forth some knitting. Nothing exciting, sorry to say. Merely a 5 hour baby jacket, knitted in Patonyle (3 balls! A sock knitter is out there planning to kill me for them) for Marcus, just until the cold snap is over, and then to wear over the short sleeved outfits that everyone decided to buy him in anticipation of actual warm weather.

My legend

Another non-knitting entry, but my da reads my blog when he can, so this entry is a shout out to him.

Congratulations to Barry Murley, winner of the 70-79 age group 2000m steeplechase at the World Masters 2009.

That's right. My da is the world champion in his age group.

Marcus, Felix and I couldn't be prouder.

For Sonia

As requested, a knit-free, only Marcus post.

Slogging on

First off, thank you all for your lovely comments and well-wishes, they really did make my day - Marcus has wriggled his way into our lives quite cunningly. Unsurprisingly, a new baby can put a cramp on your knitting time. So I'm crocheting instead.















I have 10 balls of Cleckheaton Vintage Hues that I'm crocheting into a floor rug for Marcus (I can say his name now without worrying about my dad finding out! Brilliant!) so he can just lie around and listen in while his dad plays "Guitar Hero World Tour". The drums appear to soothe him.

The pattern is the Baby Starghan and it's really easy once you get the hang of it. I'm planning to use up all 10 balls of my Vintage Hues so hopefully it'll be pretty huge at the end.

Finished Objects 2009 - #19

This has been a pretty big project. It was started in Scotland, safely carried home to Australia, and promptly ignored.

Occasionally I'd pay some attention to it, work on some details, enjoy it, then push it to the back of the queue.

The last month, however, it has had my complete attention.

It was interrupting every thought, every project, every stash hoard, even my Royal Melbourne Show win! Thankfully, at 7:46pm last Wednesday, September 30th, it was finally, completely and utterly finished.

Meet Marcus William.



I can say without fear or favour of contradiction that this is the best work I have ever done. Thanks for listening to me while I worked on him.

Finished Objects 2009 - #18

You all thought I'd never finish this blanket, didn't you? Well the joke's on you peoples!



It was started in March and technically finished in July. The blocking was my big problem. How do you kneel on a floor and pin for an hour when you're eight months pregnant? Re-pinning my Amelia Shawl for the Royal Melbourne Show taught me how - very very slowly and very very carefully. I rushed to pin that one out and got a blood nose for my trouble.



This time I used my parents lounge room, a few blankets and a lot of pins. My mum was amazed by just how many pins were required, but once she counted the points on the blanket, it all made sense.

Now to decide: do I use it for the Boitjie, or do I put it away and jealously guard it for the Show next year?

Wait....Tensionia is REAL?!?!?!?

Apparently praying to the knitting gods can pay off when it comes to the Royal Melbourne Show results.

A commended in "Article or garment using natural fibres or blend" was a pretty huge surprise, except that I don't know which pair of socks it is for!

The next category listed is "Traditional FairIsle" and when I saw my name next to the number "1" I screamed so loud Felix was worried the baby might arrive just to escape the noise. I won the Traditional FairIsle in The Show.












I am not coming off this high for a good few weeks, I swear.

A year already?

Today is the anniversary of Felix and I grabbing some heavily packed suitcases and running away to the UK. We didn't manage five years, let alone five months (thanks Immigration for changing the rules the week we arrived!), but we did meet some exceptionally awesome people and there was snow and a cold Christmas. We also discovered gammon. 'nuff said.

I've been scaring Felix and my mum by telling them that obviously a child conceived in Scotland would have to arrive on the anniversary, so my husband's last words to Boitjie this morning were "Stay in there, okay? Please?!?".

I've almost stopped knitting entirely, as I seem to spend more time sitting about doing nothing. My mum says that I'm "conserving my energy". I say I'm a lazy sod who gets her husband to do all the housework (when my mum isn't dropping over to help). The current warm weather means that I'm off to my mum's today to block the Alphabet Blanket (FINALLY!!!), so at least there's something nice and finished on my radar.

Time to play "Spot the Kitty":















Can you find Her Royal Laziness?

Necessity is the grandmother of invention

I needed to wind a skein, yet I have no skein holder. No problem. Just stick it in the lap, and s-l-o-o-o-w-l-y unwind the skein. It's a painstakingly boring task, and would have been helped along if I could have used Felix. However, we picked up his "Guitar Hero World Tour" pack on Saturday and I wasn't about to disturb his happiness.

I finally twigged that what I needed was another hand. One to turn the ball winder, one to follow the thread and a third to hold the working thread up high enough to be able to flow into the ball winder and speed things up.




















Good thing I had a ponytail. Felix thought it was so funny intuitive he had to stop his game and take a picture.

Oh mighty Tensionia, hear my prayer,,,,

Today was drop off day for knitting entries for the Royal Melbourne Show. I've entered four categories and all I can do is cross my fingers and make offerings to the gods of knitting.

Finished Objects 2009 - #16 and #17

I finished the Mintie Booties this afternoon and they look great.














I love that they're a cute mint colour, I love that they're an adorable pattern, but most of all I love that they're finished.














Now to avoid 2.25mm bamboo double points for a few days so I can heal.

Tonight I made Saartje's again, but using a different pattern. A seamless version.














What bliss! What joy! What speed! I love using the magic cast-on, and then to have no back seam as well...*happy sighs*














When you have only four threads per bootie to sew in, you know you're on a winner. Expect this to be repeated a few times over the coming days.

Finished Objects 2009 - #15 and 3/4 of #16

Last night was my brother-in-law's birthday party and the last chance for my family to see me looking like I'd swallowed a watermelon. My sisters kept telling me how small I was compared to them at the same point in their pregnancies. Very sweet of them, especially when you consider I'm about 4" taller than all of them...

Yet another pair of booties, and hopefully this time I shall spell Saartje's Booties correctly.















An easy pattern, fairly fast, the only downside being too many ends to sew in! Next time I shall knit them in the round and only sew in the straps after all that.

I've knitted them to match my Alpaca Hat, and the sweet little buttons on the side are some of my many nacre buttons reversed.

Today's booties are... unfinished. Dun-dun-duuuuuhhhhhhh! 2.25mm needles that feel like toothpicks repeatedly stabbing me in my right palm cause me to slow down somewhat.














The pattern is Christine's baby booties and the ribbing at the sides apparently helps the booties stay on. Having knitted almost the entire pair, all I can say is they'd better stay on - this much hand agony better have a payoff.














They are very very cute, though. I was knitting them at the party last night and it's rare that I get comments on my knitting, but everyone there - including the kids - wanted to touch them and play with them. I think it's like Gidgetknits said: " Why is it booties are just so adorable? "

---

We spent a large chunk of today unpacking the last of our books (What? We've only been back for eight months) and sorting out some more things.




















Here we have our bookcase, cunningly arranged by the OCD member of the family, aka me. I love the colour effect to little teeny pieces, so much so that I decided to go crazy with the craft bookcase too.














I really need more magazine holders - I have two more boxes to empty, and I only have room for two more mag holders. Oops.

Finished Objects 2009 - #14

Ha! You thought I wouldn't manage it, did you? Nur!

















The pattern is Blue Steps Baby Booties and it was great fun. I started with a Magic Cast On, which really is magic, then moved on to a half-brioche stitch, and they just zoomed along. This in itself was pretty impressive considering they were knitted in the round, with 4 ply (the alpaca again), on 2.25mm needles.














They have an adorable garter stitch section at the front that pulls them all together.















So, on to another pair tomorrow!

Oh, so *that* explains it!

My doctor's suggestion of a week of bedrest to lower my blood pressure wasn't particularly well received. How could he not know just how much I need to do around the house?!? I need to finish setting up the nursery stuff, waaaaayyyyyy too much washing needs to be done (spring's arrived, time to wash and store heavy winter woolens) and there is yet another set of curtains to be made. The flat came with curtains, but they're all ugly and the fabric was $4 a metre.

End result is obvious: knitting. I'm having mild panic attacks about my knitting and I've worked out what to do. Each day I'll knit some booties. A pair, in fact. They take almost no time, and they're very very useful. The fact that I've almost finished a pair has nothing to do with it.

Let's see how long this idea lasts!

NB: If you look up Saartje's Bootees on Google you get the pdf. If you look up the very misspelled "Saatje's Booties" the first two links are to this blog...... oops.

Urgh.

I have oooooooodles of spare time on my hands. I have a loving husband who drives me around so that I can knit when we travel (I have to pay close attention because he's still on L-plates, mind). I have a beautiful stash basket next to the couch, so I can reach in grab my current project while I watch endless hours of BBC Drama dvds on tv. I have pretty much everything except one thing:

Energy. I went back to bed at 8:30am yesterday and got up at 2:00pm. Got up this morning at 7:00am, went back to bed at 10:00am, got out of bed at 6:00pm.

I'm too tired to knit, let alone housework. I have four weeks until my due date and all I can think is "COME EARLY! I NEED TO KNIT, DAMMIT!!!"

Ooooo, new techniques exist?!?

I finally caught up with the rest of the knitting world and tried a Magic Cast on. I generally use Turkish cast on if I'm knitting a toe-up sock (twice now and possibly never again but never say never again) so to attempt a new technique is a big push for me.

As I learn more about knitting through trial and error I am constantly learning that while the tried-and true methods work, sometimes there is a better option. The difference between a cable cast-on and a Twisted German cast-on for a sock, being one example. Or using a tubular cast on instead - there are around 4 different cast-ons called "tubular": pick one.

How to cable without a cable needle? Easy once you learn how. Casting off in rib - using a knitting needle or a sewing needle? You can do either. Intarsia is far easier than you think, as is fair-isle, leading me to wonder how many knitting projects I've put off to avoid trying something new.

There's an anonymous knitter I know who is one of the most brilliant intarsia knitters in Melbourne, if not Australia. Fearless at leaping in to try something new in colourways, jumps at the chance to use different fibres. End result? Art.

She had no idea that mattress stitch existed. All of her beautiful work was sewn up in very bulky backstitch. A five minute lesson and a new world opened up to her. It was brilliant to witness. Mind you, her work now looks perfect and a million times better than my own. Maybe I should have left her alone...

So my plan is to keep trying new ideas and old techniques because if I can't then I might as well fall back into my old ways and stagnate.

Finished Objects 2009 - #12 and #13

Looks like it's hat season again...

First up we have an old project - knitted up in two days in July.


















The pattern is by Debbie Bliss, and it was FAST. Two row stripes that slowly decrease was pretty much guaranteed to be speedy, but I was actually surprised that I finished it so quickly. Felix has a mini-fetish for stripes, especially purple ones, and I'm always happy to indulge his knitting wishes. Still a bit iffy on the idea of a knitted nappy cover with the Watchmen symbol on it, though...


















I think the pompom just makes it.

Second, we have my alpaca chullo.


















It's not a real chullo, but I thought earflaps were a good idea for the Boitjie during a Melbourne spring.


















I just had to knit alpacas into the hat in fair isle, and they look okayish, but not quite as uber-awesome as I had hoped.


















Before you all start feeling sorry for George, just remember: he was hand-fed lolly bananas from the time I was 4 until now. He's been spoiled enough.














I thought that Lolli might wish to assist in the steaming of the hat, but the look of contempt says it all, really.

Finished Objects 2009 - #11

It is impossible to hold this and not giggle.


















My dodecaheeeeeeeeeeedron.

Felix's first question (once he ceased squishing it and giggling) was "So when are you making one for the baby?". I think I need to make one in green and orange for the daddy before the Boitjie gets to play with this one!

I'm now wondering...should I knit a soccer ball? Just because I can?

---

In alpaca-y news, I'm doing okay with my 4ply. I decided against doubling it up because it's a pretty small amount, and what I have left over I want to use for more baby stuff. Possibly Saatje's Booties for a small project, or even half of a second hat.

C'mon!

If you're going to label the alpaca you're selling as "8ply", shouldn't it be? This is neither the thickness of an 8ply nor does it have 8 plies.

End result: cranky knitter searching for another earflap hat pattern but in a 4ply. Smeg...

Phew!

I'm exhausted again, not that it's surprising in my state. My mum took me off to Big W for a large amount of baby item shopping, the most expensive of which was a car seat which I apparently need to have professionally fitted. *grumblestupidlawsmessingupeverythinggrumble*

On the knitting front, despite my best intentions, I still have no idea where it's all going to go. Current thought revolves around ebay, because I have yarn that I'm never going to knit up, no matter what, and I need the space these days.

On the actual knitting front I have been a tad busy. My next few days will be taken up by the following:














1. Finishing off my Transformers cardigan - sewing in ends and steaming intarsia/fair isle into submission.
2. Stuffing and knitting the final point in my dodecaheeeeeeedron (I love saying that word).
3. Start my alpaca chullo.
4. Block my Alphabet Blanket because my mum set aside the entirety of her spare room for me to do so.

Then, there's still more. I have a list that tells me what I need to finish off (my green BSJ, my stripey cardigan) and what I still need to knit for the Boitjie (baby sling, nappy covers).

As I keep pointing out it's a really good thing I'm unemployed and have intention of getting up off the couch, isn't it?

Pic free day, but lots of talking...

Felix is downloading updates so everything is moving at a pace that would be truly envious of a snail. I know this post will take five minutes to go up on it's own without photos at our current speed, so I'm leaving well enough alone.

Instead I'm spending the afternoon knitting away on my couch, interspersed with various housework-y jobs, such as re-arranging my entire craft area to fit all of my books in. My dad has been very slowly dropping round boxes of books we stored when we moved last year - I say slowly, because he knows what I'm like with books: open box, exclaim "Oh, I haven't read this in ages!", open book, start reading, wander into kitchen and make a cup of tea, settle in for the afternoon.

My craft books are kind of scary. I have the needlework books and magazines, which includes a three year "Inspirations" subscription. I have the weaving (my diploma major) books and magazines, some of which are pretty rare. I have the knitting section, which has Interweave Knits, Knit1, Vogue Knitting, Yarn and Creative Knitting (the early ones, which had slightly more original patterns in them) as only some of the magazines. The knitting book section grows depending on the Amazon sale at the time. I bought "Knit 2 Together", "Handknit Holidays" and "The Knitters Almanac" for the same price as "Handknit Holidays" cost in Borders and they arrived in 8 working days. Why would you shop elsewhere?

Anyway... I'm somewhat short of room, as my favourite old stash cupboard has been stolen for the use of the Boitjie and he seems to have an awful lot of stuff already. Clothes, soft toys (mostly my old ones!), knitwear, it all adds up. So I moved all of my knitting stash, two very overstuffed plastic storage boxes, into our lounge and dumped them in the open shelving in the corner. There they stay, along with my embroidery supplies, weaving supplies, miscellaneous craft thingies (don't look at me like that, I know you have them too!) and all of my knitting books.

My problem is that the entire top shelf is knitting baskets, bags and storage containers containing either unfinished objects or loose stash (in one case nothing but baby yarns for the knitting) that I need to store elsewhere, which I can't because our flat is short on storage spots (it has none) and I can't work out what to move to where because I fear The Unborn One is robbing me of common sense along with my eyesight.

End result: tonight I plan to utilise the brain power of my beloved Felix to work out a solution and help me move things while I direct from the couch. Here's hoping it works...

Finished Objects 2009 - #10

It appears that the only way the outside world will know what I'm knitting is if I keep up a post a day routine. Let's see how long I can last... (I give me until tomorrow)

I swear if I was more tired, I'd be asleep. As it is, I have a scant six weeks until Boitjie's arrival, and he's making his present felt via exhausting his mother, copious heartburn and trying to break out via the side using his feet as the means of escape.

Luckily, I plan to forgive him and cloth him in knitting, such as these green booties. I used the last of my Shiloh Silky 8ply that I used on my Kingsford Smith hat.















The pattern is Ruth's Perfect Baby Booties, and it's a pretty easy pattern with nice shaping, and in my case the opportunity to learn grafting garter stitch - pretty much the same as grafting stocking stitch but just repeat the front at the back ie purl, then knit for each stitch.

Are newborn feet this big? I mean really?!? Should I start panicking now???

Possible blog name change

After the last four days I think I might have to change my blog name to "Let Me Sew!".














It started on Sunday, with a new curtain, trimming on a bathmat, a tablecloth and lengthening my niece's sports pants.



















On Monday, it was a small pincushion organiser.


















On Tuesday, it was a Spotlight visit and a quilted basket/block.














Today, it's another quilted block, only larger.

Felix suggested "Let Me Craft!" but after I pointed out that I hated the c-word, he backed down...

All done!

Well, that's July all wrapped up! I've posted every day - bar three days, and I blame mid-year Yuletide rush for that - and it's been rather fun.

I find writing up what I do as I do it helps me to consolidate what I'm working on, and helps me to want to finish it, because when I do I can post about it.

I'm a bit light on the WIP's at the moment. All I have is the Alphabet Blanket, Green Booties, Transformers jacket and a set of socks I just started for my nana today (no, the Garden Shawl doesn't count. It's in hibernation - shhhh! You'll wake it up!). Hopefully I can knock some of these over quickly, which means more posts.

Blanket Update: ........ well b****r me. I'm finished.

Now for sewing in ends and blocking the blanket without the cat sitting on it. Hrm.... Is it wrong to set booby traps for a cat?

Finished Objects 2009 - #9

I finished my baby argyle vest a very long time ago, in April in fact.















The base pattern is Debbie Bliss' Baby Tank Top, but I love argyle patterns so much I added it in. I can picture this tank top with some very cute matching burgundy and white tartan pants, or maybe something just plain. This top comes under the heading of "For Andrea's baby". Anything old-fashioned is for my child. Anything awesome or nerdy belongs to Felix's baby.


















George volunteered to model again. I think he's been a bit cold lately.

Not *really* helping

Lolli insists on being by my side at all times, unless I let her outside to take on the might of next-door's Ginger Ninja. My cat is pretty placid and loves to be near whenever I'm making something.

However...













I get the feeling she doesn't want me to iron the newly sewn tablecloth hems.















Uh-huh. Definitely not.

Finished Objects 2009 - #8

I apologise in advance for the vileness of these pictures. Awful, awful pictures.














This is my baby wraparound, in Rowan Wool Cotton. The very first thing I cast on when I found out I was pregnant. The pattern is from the "Knit Cafe" book, and while I did love it, I have a few problems with it.

The bottom hem is just terrible - loose, unstructured, bleurgh. I'm tempted to put a striped bias fabric hem along it, just to make myself feel a bit better. The slot for the front to slip through is huge, and not just due to my mid-row cast off/on.














I think the winner here is the pattern which is just great (even if it did make the bottom hem all loose!). It's an easy 4 row repeat, which I can probably do in my sleep now. I'll definitely be reusing it at a later date.

But I'll still hem whatever it is with fabric!

Blanket Update: two sides covered in triangles!

Finished Objects 2009 - #6 and #7

My entire weekend disappeared into a vortex of family and cooking, for I finally had my way and had a Christmas in July.



















We had a nicely set table.















We had food. Waaaaaaaaaay to much food.




















We had a tree with presents.

Whose presents? Well, those would be for my parents, who were the guests of honour.



















My mum's present was the Endpaper Mitts she very unsubtly asked for. As in, "Oh that's a nice pattern. What colour are you making mine in?" They fit skintight, as expected and she loves them.












Da got his socks (excuse the photo - a blurry hell vortex opened up as I was taking these shots). To say he loves them is an understatement. He now has golf socks. In St Kilda colours.














With different toes. Which he knew straight away, before he even looked.

Has anyone been telling my da what's on my blog?