Yarn yarns pt1

I haven't done any knitting in a couple of months, at least! Just lost the mojo entirely, but I'm sure it'll come back soon enough.. luckily it turns out I have over a years worth of projects unblogged.. oops.

Like....

A Hotshot for Eli -

A Puffy Sleeved Shrug for Maia - 

A Sprout hat, which I sold (was a test knit for a designer who had already published, but needed feedback)

( that kid is 2 now!)

An Andalucia crochetted skirt -

A Daisy Sue babydoll - 

A Gail shawl for our playgroup fundraiser (sold for $100!) -

to be continued lol...

Super Secret Sea Squirrel!

Not like Sandy Cheeks on a mission though..

A very clever lady I know is running a yarn club this winter!

And as part of the package you get an exclusive pattern with each installment, two of which i had the pleasure of testing in april, ready for the release... i've had to keep them a secret since, so as not to spoil the surprise for anyone getting the yarn club ;)

The first club installment has just been sent out, and has a mermaids & mermen theme, the first pattern of which is Amphitrite-

it's a beautiful little girls vest, with lace & cable detailing on the front

it is completely seamless, using a cunning provisional cast on at the back

and the boys/unisex pattern is Poseidon -

this one has more cables, but also has the option of doing the 'seaweed' lace side panels

and is also seamless, but this time with a full V-neck, rather than scoop...

they're both very cute patterns, especially with their mer-tail themed central panels, and we use these vests a lot!

At the moment they're only available to the lucky few who managed to nab a club spot, but they should be available for general release early 2012!

two....

my little china girl..

another test knit - this pattern, tentatively called the Chinatown Jumper (there is a jacket too), hasn't been released yet :-)

it's a seamless, top-down jumper, with a very cute collar detail -

i striped a variegated yarn with a plain one that matched to get a milder variegated look :-)

the matching jacket continues the lace collar section right down the front, with buttons to finish it, and it is also very cute!

keep an eye out for them being released on ravelry!!

*shrug*

another test knit i've just done was a puffy sleeved shrug for lexi!

it's a brand new design & very easy to knit

i used some yarn that i had spun myself from purple & white hand-dyed merino fleece that i was gifted!

i'm very pleased with how it came out, it's very snuggly & soft, and fits lexi well! It used just under 100g of yarn for a size 6 shrug too..

and it has very cute princessy puff sleeves!

(my poor sweet baby was having a particularly bad outbreak of psoriasis, or eczema - as yet undetermined - at the time, hence the slightly obtuse pics!)

the rare Lesser Hooded Eli

Ages ago i finished Eli's winter hoodie!
(ie back in winter)

it's the Vestee pattern from Knitty, but using the hood & long sleeves options-
i needed to upsize it for a skinny 2 year old, and wanted to knit it in the round, so i cast on the combined front & back stitches rounded up to a multiple of 3 (to get the right stitch pattern) and joined it in the round, and knit up to the arm pits as one piece, adding quite a lot of length - i find the suggested length to be *really* short. i then knit both sleeves at the same time using magic loop, and joined them onto the body & knit the rest as per the pattern :-)

it's taken me so long to post about it since i was trying to get a good shot of it being modeled... but i failed - this is the best i have been able to get-
oh well...

but it fits really nicely, and i really recommend this pattern for a fast & simple jumper!!

tiny summer shrug

this is what i was working on yesterday-cute huh?

it's the Debbie Bliss Baby Shrug, downsized to a newborn size (mods on my rav page), and knit in a soft cotton/soy blend yarn, since it's about to be winging it's way to somewhere hot!
(once i've organised a traveling partner for it anyway ;-) )

Project Monday #3

now that i've finished the spring butterfly & matching (sort of) doll dress, it's onto other things!

the red fluff is multiplying & has been seen accompanied by some green fluff-
and i've almost almost almost finished this little something for a friends new baby-
almost.

hopefully tonight.. and then it'll be straight onto a little something different for a friends other baby ;-)

Spring Butterfly

i've never done a test knit before, so i was pretty chuffed to get the opportunity to do one for a very clever friend of mine - Crafty Wee Wifey - who had designed a very pretty little spring cardi called Spring Butterfly, and was looking to adapt the design to several different sizes!

and so here is my attempt!-it's got some pretty cool features, like the butterfly design on the back-
(please excuse yet another attack of the random blogger rotating bug!! anyone know how to disable that?!)(which *some* people insist is a mutant spider...)
and is a very easy & fairly quick pattern to knit too!

and just a gratuitous pic from our 'photoshoot'-

introducing.....

in which i attempt to regularly (ie theoretically on a monday) share what is going on in my Work-In-Progress pile!

a window into the creative process, if you will...

beginning with....

the never-ending tofu-socks of doom!
so close, so very very, yet unmotivatingly, close!!

a test knit spring cardigan for lexi, designed by a very clever friend of mine-
(camera was determined to over-expose that one sorry..)

a pointy secret-

and a fluffy secret-
and that's what i'm working on this week!

Hoodie for MeMe

i've finished my Corona hoodie!!
(lexi took the pics lol)

i'm rather pleased with it - my first non-sock/glove/hat grown up knit!

it took almost exactly 600g of the new Bendigo Woolen Mills Luxury 10ply, other details & mods etc are on my rav page..

and just to teach me to neglect my blog feed reader thingammy, i've just discovered that i was tagged ages ago by the very crafty & allegedly crazy Jo for a MeMe that everyone was doing, like, ages ago.. ;-)

so here it is-

What is your current obsession?
our new carpet. it’s so soft & squishy!

What is your weirdest obsession?
see above.

What are you wearing today?
jeans, merino top, new hoodie

If you could change 1 thing about yourself, what would you change?
working on the teeth, so would have to be the nose.. sorry, love ya dad, but could do without your nose.

What would you eat for your last meal?
our version of katie’s lentil lasagna (no courgettes lol), really good chocolate milk, hot chips, hot fudgey gooey vegan chocolate cake, with triple chocolate icecream, and fresh strawberries & de spa chocolates on the side. all organic & sustainable ingredients of course, can afford to live up to ideals for last meal if no other time!

What’s the last thing you bought?
carpet.

What are you listening/watching right now?
watching nothing, tv is off while kids are up, listening to kids chatter.

If you could go anywhere in the world for the next hour, where would you go?
can’t fit in a broadway show in an hour, so probably some tropical island for a soak

Which language do you want to learn?
welsh or mandarin

What do you love most about where you currently live?
Auckland..? probably access to the zoo, museums, large library system etc (hey when we become a supercity does that mean free access to all the region’s libraries?!?!)

What is your favorite colour?
blue

What is your favorite piece of clothing in your own wardrobe?
my new hoodie

What were you doing ten years ago?
I was in 6th form lol.. probably sulking/skulking around listening to metallica or some such.

Describe your personal style?
indecisive..

If you had $300 now, what would you spend it on?
tickets to starlight express. new boots – mine have very little sole left.

What are you going to do after this?
try to get the kids to sleep

What are your favourite films?
LOTR, monty python, i've seen some really good ones but i'm having a mind blank.. looking forward to the new harry potter *blush*

What inspires you?
my friends, ravelry & various blogs – chronic “I could try that” syndrome

Your favourite books?
Terry Pratchett's Discworld series

Do you collect anything?
mess. hobbies.

What makes you follow a blog?
inspiring ideas or crafts, witty repartee, written by friends, often all of the above.

What is your favourite FO and why?
my boysenberry hand knit socks. so warm, so cozy, can wear them over & over & they don’t get smelly! and they fit really well.

Your proudest moment?
having a homebirth with eli, highly recommend it (but get your own baby!)

Your biggest weakness?
having no patience for medium-large purchases once i know i have the money & need (or concocted need at least)

The rules:1. Respond and rework; answer the questions on your blog, replace one question that you dislike with a question of your invention, add one more question of your own. 2. Tag eight other people.

soo umm.. i'll try to pull some adjectives out of my bloggy hat- domestic, challenging, sufficient, addled, creative (or umm late), naked, satisfying, and a goodie!

Intermission

*doo-dee-doo-dee-doodoodoodoodoo. doo-dee-doo-dee-doodoodoodoodoo. doo-dee-doo-dee-doodoodoodoodoo-doo-doo!*

sooo....
a) the power supply for our puter packed in = no puter
b) school hoildays = kids who interfere with precious puter time
c) we've been busy ripping up the carpet = no table for puter to sit on (umm yeah, hi dad. we've ripped up the carpet.)
d) still knitting hoodie of certain doom. ok, so i exaggerate really, it's actually going rather well, and i only have this much more to knit -> until i run out of yarn anyway, hopefully that will be enough to finish the pattern too! ;) fortunately if i do run out the sleeves are orangutan-worthy, so i have a bit of yarn retrievable from there...

other than that it has been pretty ho-hum here on the crafting/making stuff front, except for this little morsel...

waaaay back last summer we grew our own popcorn. mini black popcorn to be precise-
which we finally popped one cob of - strangely resulting in the whitest popcorn i have ever seen!
tasted good though :)

radio silence..

yeah i know, i've been quiet for a while, bad blogger!!

but it's because i've started knitting my very first adult sized jumper, for me!!

and it even has never-attempted-before cables!!

see-
very proud i am..

but anyway, hopefully i'll have it asap, then it'll be back to a regular sprinkling of bits n bobs from me!

unvestee

for eli this winter i knitted him a Vestee except with sleeves.. thus an Unvestee!!

i wanted it to just be the dark blue, but based on the yardage in the pattern i wouldn't have enough (it said 500-550m with long sleeves, i had 5 balls of 93 = 465) so i decided to use the light blue too to make up the difference... guess what? all up it came to around 260m! *sigh* oh well i kinda like the slightly preppy look of it, he still looks cute in it anyway!

it don't mean a thing if it ain't got that *swing*

finally finished lexi's Swing Thing jacket!!
it's seems to have taken me forever, possibly unsurprisingly since it even fits me!!
we're quite happy with the result though, and it should keep her nice & warm this winter, and hopefully the next one too!

there's more pics on my ravellry page :-)