Weekend knitting.

Be the change

You wish to see

In the world.

-Gandhi

I missed posting last weekend. More crafts going than I have time to post about. By the colour scheme you can guess there is a baby girl on the way and not long to go before her arrival. I found a fantastic vest pattern in one of favourite books that I had to knit up.

The book is called Traditional knitting for children and bears. I have made many things from this book and it continues to give me hours of pleasure. A friend of mine had a hard week at work, so a beaded doll was in order. One for my friend and one for me.

A trip to lovely Toodyay with darling Heather saw a bag full of yarn come home with me. The pink yarn has already turned into this sweet baby tunic. The multi coloured yarn will be something for me.

Determination is using as many material scraps as I can. Here is an I-spy quilt on the go and almost finished. It is nice to see the material slowly but surely being used.

 A lovely cool weekend here in town and this afternoon will be spent baking and knitting. Stay safe my travelling boys.

Cheers, Anita.

Happy Wedding Anniversary

Give a girl the right shoes,

And she can conquer the world.

-Marilyn Monroe.

Once again the week has flown by so quickly, lots of work done but not much craft!! My husband and I celebrated 22 years of marriage on the 10^th March and we have actually been together for 25 years.... half of our lives!! That’s quite a long time now! Hope you had a nice Wedding anniversary Pixie....you big hunk of spunk!!

Much time has been spent getting Brandon’s course ready and that’s taken quite some time to do. I have finished knitting this sweet little cardigan using Cleckheaton baby soft and it is very soft. I have made this pattern several times as I know how well it knits up. I knitted one for my niece who has 3 children of her own now!

Just adore the cream colour

I have finished knitting my cardigan, with just the buttons to go. This is the yarn that has 15% alpaca in it, and it is so soft that I can only imagine how soft 100% alpaca would be. I have only put it on for a second as it is so hot here. We have had days of high 30’s – 43C and today is going to be the same. Thoughts go out to our eastern states friends who are experiencing floods and storms.

I’ll be nice and warm this winter!

I need to put buttons on both items I have finished. It’s funny to say that out of all the process of making an item, the button part is the killer for me!! I have had fun emailing with blogging friends over the last few months. I have learnt all kinds of things about different countries, their weather, government systems etc. It has been a fascinating ride and an enjoyable one. I must catch up with my old blogger friends now.

Cheers, Anita.

Labour Day weekend.

An old broom knows

the dirty corners best.

-Irish proverb

Here in Western Australia we are celebrating Labour Day long weekend. It commemorates the granting of the eight-hour working day for Australians. It also recognizes worker’s contributions towards the nation’s economy. The date of this annual holiday varies across the country. This lovely long weekend has given me the opportunity to play catch up on several levels. My husband and I took a nice Saturday morning drive to the suburbs to check up on our new lounge suite being custom made for us. We checked measurements as I had a sudden thought that is this lounge suite too big to get in the house!!!! All is good.

I have several projects now completed to show you. I have made another baby set consisting of a beanie, mittens and bootees for a friend of ours who is expecting a baby. The lovely pink that I have used was just so lovely to knit with.

I know you can only see 1 bootee, but I did knit 2.

I have made a few table cloths for the library display tables. This week I set up a jungle display that the kids loved and went crazy over the books. I also made a butterfly table cloth as the kids love butterflies out our way.

Cute little butterflies

Since moving over to the new library I have had nowhere to put all the world maps, so I decided to make a big bag with tags to tie on to some hooks. This should make the area tidier for the staff to grab maps from. It is a very big bag too!!

Imagine what I can hide in here!!!

I am still knitting away at my cardigan for this coming winter. Even though it is not finished I thought I would show you the pattern anyway. The yarn is Purla and it has 15% alpaca. It is so soft to touch and being 15% alpaca, I can imagine what 100% alpaca would feel like. I can see why it is so expensive to purchase alpaca clothing. 50grams will set you back $17.00, and if you add up how many balls you would need to knit a jumper, there is the cost. But for something special, I would pay that price.

This cardigan is knitted in 1 piece until the armpits.

I decided to pay the local library a visit and found 2 interesting books that I couldn’t put down. I have started reading On my brothers’ shoulders. It is the story of a young boy who ends up in a Catholic mission and is saved by a kind hearted person. I am only a little way into the book, but I can tell already the making of a great story.

This looks like another great read!

For those of you enjoying this long weekend, have a great time. I plan to get my cardigan finished before I go back to work on Tuesday. Fingers crossed.

Cheers, Anita.

Oops!! Flat batteries!!

Patience often is a

simple matter of putting

yourself in another's place.

Don't you get annoyed when you go to do a new posting only to discover your camera needs charging? That's what I've done today. I managed one photo and then the camera said 'no'. The new edition of Handmade was lovingly purchased yesterday and so many great craft projects to be had.

I have managed to knit a baby beanie, a baby cardigan and make a start on a short sleeved cardigan for me. For many years I had a big stash of favourite knitting patterns that I made over and over again. I think they were always reliable patterns that I knew were going to knit up well.

In recent times I have decided to have a go at more modern knitting patterns and I have to admit, I have been more than frustrated with them. Some patterns are just done in graph form and are tiny diagrams to follow, some tell you what to do and don't tell you how many stitches you should have before you get to the end of the instructions. Also the terminology used is very different to what I am used to, so instead of just going for it and flying through the pattern, I have to check the abbreviation list, something frustrating for me.

I have know found some new and detailed instructions that I'm getting happy with, so thank goodness for that. On I go with my fantastic weekend, most of the housework is done and this afternoon I plan to do some sort of craft work. Last night I did so much knitting that I'm sure I've caught up with Heather by now. We both purchased new yarn over the last couple of weekends and Heather started her new yarn off before me. Not fair!!!! lol.

Catch you all when I finally get the camera charged and I can show you my completed works.

Cheers, Anita.



Alpaca find

The heart that loves

is always young.

-Greek proverb

Heather and I just couldn’t control ourselves, we needed to make another trip to Toodyay for more wool, oh, and morning tea. This trip I discovered some super soft wool that simply had to come home with me. It is called Purla by Panda. It has 15% alpaca and by the feel of it, you would think most of it was alpaca. I plan to knit something for myself with this wool.

Super soft

From last weekend’s stash of wool I made a baby boy matinee jacket and a beanie to go with it. I am knitting with the pink wool right now but haven’t finished my project. I will show and tell next time.

Cute for a little boy!

On our trip home, I pulled over and took some photo’s of...you guessed it.....a paddock full of alpaca’s. It was quite funny to see them all standing there staring at us, and then deciding to wonder off. I love all the different colours the alpaca’s come in.

What are those humans looking at????

A great find at the local library. A small book full of cute projects to knit.  Some patterns are knitted in wool and some using cotton. Since yesterday was adventure day, today is work day!!! I’m off to start my chores and wish everyone a wonderful day.

Cheers, Anita.   J

One missing wool shop...found!!!!

A wise mind knows that adverse

Events are blessed opportunities

For growth in disguise.

For a minute, I thought I wasn’t going to get my posting done this week. I have had many visitors and unexpected events happen this weekend, but here I am. Heather and I had been really sooking big time, as we were told our favourite wool shop had closed down!! We decided to be little detectives and check it out for ourselves. In the car and off to a neighbouring town we go. After walking around for a fair while and finding other interesting shops, we finally came across some women that told us they were not locals but did see a craft shop up the street. We took off, and what do you know......our shop is still there!!! This is what I purchased.....

The brand name is ironic!!

I decided not to go mad and buy up big, because we are coming back in a few weeks time for a good shop....(hope Pixie my hubby doesn’t see this!).  Some friends of mine are having babies and they love the bright colours, so here goes. I’m sure Heather is quite jealous that I have started knitting with my new wool and she has not. Giggle giggle giggle.

A work friend gave me a nice surprise this week. A friend of hers had become bored with some patchwork she was doing and gave it away. I was fortunate to receive it. There is a fair bit of it, so I’m not sure if it was meant to be a quilt or lots of cushion covers? Doesn’t matter, I will find a use for it.

Just love the colours!

Someone spent a lot of time making these!

Since the weekend has totally zipped by, I am simply going to look forward to this next fantastic week and then enjoy next weekend. Hope you are all doing the same thing as well.

Cheers, Anita.

PS Great detective work Heather!!!

J J

My pretty hat

 

A book is a friend.

-American proverb

You may be able to tell I’m back at work, the postings have dropped off a bit! Even though I’ve had the best week and a very busy week, I have still had time to make a pretty hat, knitted some more bootees and started another knitted jacket for a baby. There is no rest for the wicked, truly. I am so pleased with how my hat turned out.

I just love my new hat

The pattern came from one of Heather’s Homespun magazines and I fell in love with it and thought it would be great to have a new hat for school. I have to admit I cut off about 2 inches from the brim as it was way too big for me. But with some adjustments, a fine hat was made. I added the flower to the hat and the flower pattern was from another book.

I did promise to share with you some of the cushions I had made while on holidays. The photo’s came out a bit better than last time. We are waiting for our new lounge to be made so the cushions will go with the new lounge. We have an Italian leather lounge suite on the way and it is in a light shade. Can’t wait!!

These are so comfy!

I went to the library yesterday and found some terrific books. I had to grab the cross-stitch in blue and white, it has fabulous ideas to create. The puppet book will come in handy too.

I had taken the Ancient Egyptian cross-stitch book out before and will get a few
more patterns out of it for future reference.

Walk like an Egyptian.......

I will now continue with my weekend. The weather here has cooled down quite a lot so it is easier to get things done. I even managed to get the ironing done this morning without melting away.

Enjoy the rest of the weekend doing what it is you love to do. Fingers crossed the weather stays nice and nobody bothers me!!!

Cheers, Anita.