March 2016

Finished Objects:

This month I finished the Peacock Infinity Scarf I have been knitting for Mum since Christmas :-) It's made with MadelineTosh Merino DK yarn in the "Nassau Blue" colourway that I bought from Purl Soho when I was visiting New York last year. I'm very happy how it turned out, it's one of my Mum's favourite colours and will go well with lots of things she wears :-) I think she will love it.  

Work in Progress: 

I've made a little bit more progress on the Guernsey Wrap Scarf. I'm really enjoying knitting this project! It's the first time I've used a chart pattern, and I had imagined it would be a lot more difficult than it actually is. The whole scarf is just made up of basic Knit and Purl stitches in different sequences to form the beautiful patterns. The yarn is Circus Tonic Handmade Carousal DK 8ply 100% Australian superwash Merino. The colour is "Cape Barren Goose". I'm loving how clear the stitch definition is with this yarn :-)

Acquisitions:

I couldn't help myself and had to buy some of the beautiful new single ply merino fingering weight yarn from Circus Tonic Handmade. I bought 4 skeins - one each of "Figbird", "White Browed Woodswallow", "Purple Backed Starling" and "Grey Hawk". Hannah also gifted me some lovely Fiesta 4ply fingering yarn (superwash merino) in the "Sulphur Crested Cockatoo" colourway as she thought it would make a good contrasting colour with some of the other yarns I bought :-) I want to knit a little present for one of my cousins who is having her first baby soon, so I asked her to pick the yarn she liked best for me to use to knit something for the baby. She chose the "Grey Hawk" colourway, a beautiful soft silvery creamy grey. Now to find a pattern and some time to work on the project before the baby arrives! :-)

February 2016 - Getting my Crafty Mojo Back :-)

Well I haven't posted anything on my crafty hobbies blog for ages (more than a year actually), and haven't actually had a lot of time for making things. In January one of my best friends (Hannah @circustonichandmade) was staying nearby in Adelaide for a couple of weeks and it was awesome because we got to hang out and catch up properly, eat lots of yummy treats and talk a lot about yarn and knitting and crafts! Hannah and I have been friends since undergrad uni and we both did honours in molecular biology at UNSW what feels like a lifetime ago. Hannah has recently left her lab job and set herself up as an indie yarn dyer and has an etsy business selling her beautiful creations (Circus Tonic Handmade on Etsy, also on Ravelry and Instagram if you want to check her work out). All her yarn colours are inspired by Australian nature, currently Australian birds, so apart from having awesome colourway names like "Spangled Drongo" and "Cape Barren Goose" the yarn colours are just amazing. Anyway, after hanging out with Hannah I got re-inspired to pick up my knitting needles and even try some new stitches and patterns. Knitting is a great way to relax while doing something productive and creative at the same time, so I'm trying to make a bit more time to regularly knit, even if only for 20mins at night after dinner.

Another factor that also contributed to me getting my knitting mojo back was discovering knitting podcast blogs online! Hannah has recommended a few to me, but by far my favourite so far is the "Brooklyn Knitfolk" podcast on YouTube. It's hosted by Jaclyn Salem (she's also on Instagram @jaclynsalem), a graphic designer living in New York who has recently discovered knitting. She has the most wonderful friendly personality, and it just feels like you are sitting across a coffee table from her having a chat about knitting projects, yarn, and plenty of other things. I feel like if Hannah, Jaclyn and I ever got together in the real world we would get on like a house on fire. Anyway, despite being new to knitting, Jaclyn has been knitting quite interesting and beautiful patterns, and it has really inspired me to give some trickier patterns a go this year. I also decided that I will try to maintain this blog a bit better, with a regular monthly post about my progress and any other crafty related things :-) So here we go...

Finished Objects for February:

Unicorn quilted cushion cover.
I have had three cushion inserts sitting in my little flat for over a year waiting for me to find time to cover them and replace the exhausted cushions that I made years ago. Finally I got some crafty mojo back this month and spent an afternoon with my sewing machine, iron and lots of beautiful fabric, and made this cushion cover! I didn't follow a quilting pattern, instead I just freestyle quilted, randomly cutting fabric into sizes and shapes I felt like without the painstaking measuring and careful cutting that quilting normally demands. It was so liberating and fun to just 'wing it' and quilt freestyle and I LOVE the finished product. :-) Almost all the fabric I used had been given to me over the years by Hannah (as we share a love of quilting too...). A lot of the pastel fabrics were handprinted by Maze & Vale, and the beautiful unicorn and bright yellow flower fabrics are by Heather Ross. I love the unicorn fabric, it reminds me of the beautiful medieval tapestry "La Dame a la Licorne" that hangs in the Musee National du Moyen Age in Paris. One cushion down, two more to make. Although I used up all the Maze & Vale fabric I had so I'm trying to decide whether to use one of the other fabrics that I have a bit left over of as a common fabric in all three cushions, or buy some more Maze & Vale fabric or else make each of the 3 cushions completely different themes. Time will tell.

 

Work in Progress for February: 

Peacock Scarf.
When I was in New York in December I had a non-negotiable visit to Purl Soho. I tried to be good and not buy myself any yarn from that beautiful shop, but I compromised with myself and bought 2 skeins of Madeline Tosh to make an infinity scarf for my Mum. I found a colour that reminds me of a peacock feather and I'm sure my Mum will love it. I've been knitting the scarf since Christmas, and been taking it with me and knitting when I get spare time :-)

Guernsey Wrap.
After watching Jaclyn's Brooklyn Knitfolk podcast and seeing how beautiful the Guernsey Wrap was that she made for her sister, I decided I would challenge myself and attempt my first ever pattern using a knitting chart! I modified the pattern so it would be about half the width and be more scarf-like by doing only 2 instead of 4 repeats of the central pattern motif. I am using the Circus Tonic Handmade DK yarn in "Cape Barren Goose" colourway to make this, and so far I'm loving it. The stitch definition is good so you can really see the stitch patterns, which I'm very pleased about. And the colour is a nice neutral colour that should go with lots of things. I needed to learn a new cast-on method to start the wrap - the "long tail cast on". Luckily YouTube is full of helpful knitting tutorials these days, and I found the Wool and the Gang 2min video was easy to follow if anyone else is needing to learn how to do this.  So far I've only done the first 20 rows or so, as it requires concentration to follow the pattern so I can't knit while watching a DVD yet as I can with garter stitch projects. Hopefully this will change as I get more confident with the pattern :-)

Acquisitions:

Not sure whether having this section is a good idea or if it will just highlight how bad a splurger I can be over the year. Hehe.

Yarn.
I bought some yarn from Hannah's Etsy shop of course, not just to be a supportive friend but because her yarn is amazing! :-) I will definitely be buying more in the future. So far I have bought 2 skeins of the Carousal DK 8ply yarn (100% Australian superwash merino) in the "Cape Barren Goose" colour, and 2 skeins in the "Mallee Emu Wren" colour.

Project Bag.
This was given to me as a surprise present by Hannah in January when she saw I was carrying my knitting projects around in clip-lock bags. This gorgeous little project bag is made by the "Stitch Pixie" and is the perfect size for a ball of yarn and one of my scarf projects, and lets me bring my work in progress with me in style. It's also more convenient that clip-lock bags which always seemed to have the needles poke holes in them. :-)

Knitting time

One positive aspect of the cold wet weather we have been having this winter is it is perfect for sitting inside and knitting in the evenings. I've been watching Masterchef on tv and Game of Thrones on dvd after dinner and been getting a fair bit of knitting done which is great :-)

 

  Last weekend I finished off another pair of baby booties for an overseas friend who has just had his 3rd baby born. I Used my trusty go-to pattern and some soft merino wool (the colour is called Banana cream) that my friend Hannah gave me. I find that a pair of booties takes about 3/4 of a typical 50g ball of wool using 4 or 5mm needles. 

Once I finished the booties, I spent a little while on Ravelry looking for ideas of things to knit with 1 skein of 12 ply mohair. I have some beautiful hand-dyed mohair that my brother gave me for my birthday one year...he bought it from the Salamanca markets in Hobart, and it is gorgeous. It is made by "the Spindle Tree" and is a lovely mix of blues and greys called 'Tasman'. I really want to make something nice with it that I will actually wear, but it's hard to find something suitable for this type of yarn and only 1 75g skein. In the end I chose to try to make a neck-warmer/cowl using a fairly easy-sounding free lacy pattern. So far I'm about 14 rows into it and think it looks really good, but I'm concerned how much yarn it has used just to knit 14 rows, so I'm considering undoing it and starting again with a reduced number of stitches...maybe 24 instead of 34...but I'm not sure if that will affect the lacy pattern...or maybe it will be possible for me to buy an extra skein of the yarn from the Spindle Tree (if they have more of this colour available) so I can just continue to knit the cowl following the pattern.  

Olivewood Infinity Scarf

It's been a freezing weekend in Adelaide...it was only 3 degrees Celsius when I woke up this morning, and I think the maximum temp was 13 C. Brrr...perfect weather for scarfs and knitting. I finished the infinity scarf I was knitting for myself using Manos del Uruguay merino/silk yarn in the 'olivewood' colourway. :-) I really love this yarn, it's so soft and cosy and also such beautiful colours. This colourway is a mix of blues, greys, cream and caramel, which I think will go really well with denim jeans or skirt. :-)

Despite it being cold, this weekend has actually been sunny after what seems like weeks of rain and wind. So apart from the chores and a little bit of knitting, I also managed to go for a hike in Morialta conservation park yesterday. It was gorgeous, and after so much rain the waterfalls were flowing spectacularly. In summer you can barely see a trickle of water, but yesterday it was gushing down the cliffs and it looked beautiful with rainbows forming in the pool down the bottom. 

Morialta conservation park, July 2014

Knitted gifts

I wanted to make a present for a special friend who was about to have her 3rd baby...not just a present for her baby but also something little for my friend. When I followed a link from the Tiny Happy blog and saw the gorgeous free drop-stitch cowl pattern by Spiderwomanknits, I decided that this is what I would make for her! Then I found this gorgeous vibrant chunky yarn at the knitting shop in Glenelg. The yarn is "Katia Ushuaia", it's really chunky, I had to knit using 10mm needles.

The pattern is quite easy, although it had some new techniques for me to learn, such as the 'drop-stitch' which I really love. However it was meant to be knitted in the round, but when I joined up the circle I must have somehow twisted the stitches and when I got to the end I had to unravel it all and start again which was a bit disheartening. So I decided to attempt it again, but without knitting 'in the round', and instead sewed up the seam at the end to make the tube-shape of the cowl. I'm pretty happy how it turned out, and so I was glad to realise I had enough yarn left over to make a second one for myself! I really do need to figure out how to 'knit in the round' though...there's lots of good patterns that call for this, but somehow I haven't managed to get it right yet!

For my friend's baby, I knitted these little charcoal coloured booties. I know it's my go-to pattern, but I really like it, and each pair is different depending on the yarn. The yarn I chose for this pair was from New Zealand, and is a blend of merino wool and possum fur (Possum's being a pest in NZ, unlike in Australia, they are allowed to make yarn out of them...and it's very nice and soft).

It feels so good to be knitting and crafting again! :-) I'm going to try to get on a roll again, and also branch out and try a few new techniques/patterns as well as my trusty favourites. I have signed up for Dry July (No alcohol for a month, trying to raise money to help support adult cancer sufferers)...it's not going to be easy/fun to give up alcohol for a month as I do enjoy a glass of wine most nights while preparing dinner, but it's for a very worthy cause, and as a reward/distraction for myself I've decided I'm going to try to do a bit of craft each night or read a book. So hopefully I'll be updating this blog with some new projects soon! :-)

Lotus Seed Pod Lino Cut

I have been wanting to make my own stamps for ages (years, really) but somehow have never tried to do it until now. I make a lot of my own gift cards, but I usually decorate them using stamps I have bought or been given over the years, or by sticking photos I have taken onto cards. I always get inspired to make my own stamps whenever I look at the simple but beautiful designs on the Tiny Happy blog, or the more intricate ones on Geninne's Art Blog. Today I decided to try my hand at lino cutting, and set out to try to make my own stamps! The last (and only) time I have done any lino cutting would have been back in my Year 8 art class at high school (more than 15 years ago!! eeek).

I decided my first homemade stamp would be of a lotus seed pod...I am always fascinated by these seed pods whenever I see them, and am always drawn towards the lotus pond at the Adelaide Botanic Gardens every time I visit.

 First step, I sketched my impression of a lotus seed pod on paper. Then transferred it on to the lino by pressing really hard with a pen and going over the original pencil lines a few times with a lot of pressure. Then I drew in the impressions with a lead pencil so it was easier to see the outlines. Next step...start carving the shape out of the lino. This was fun, but also required a lot of concentration and fiddly maneuvering with the lino tools. My hand was quite sore by the end of it, probably because I'm unfamiliar with using these tools! Hopefully it will get easier with practice :-)

Once I was happy with my carving efforts, it was time to ink it up and see if it actually worked as a stamp! And to my utmost delight....it worked really well!! Much better than I had imagined, so I'm thrilled with this first attempt at stamp making. I think I'll be doing a lot more in future.

I have now used my lotus seed pod stamp to make a whole bunch of gift cards. I had been neglecting my card making for a while, but making my own unique stamps has inspired me to make a small stash so now I will have a few on hand when I want to send a special homemade card but don't have the time to make one.

Picking up the needles again

I really have neglected my crafty activities this year, including updating this blog. I have decided to pick up my knitting needles again - it's a therapeutic and productive way to combat stress, and it brings me such joy to make something handmade and special  to give to my friends, or to wear myself. Above is a little pair of booties I made using some of the Manos Del Uruguay yarn I bought earlier this year. The colour is called "abalone", and it is a merino/silk blend, very soft and beautiful to work with. I made these booties for my best friend's sister, who recently had her second child.

I have also been (very slowly) working on a garter stitch infinity scarf for myself, also using Manos Del Uruguay merino/silk' yarn, this time in a colour called "olivewood" (see below). Last year I made myself a similar scarf using "wildflowers" yarn, and it has become one of my most favourite accessories...I wear it everywhere. So I thought I might make a few more in different shades :-)

I have also been working on (and finished) two other knitting projects, but as both of them are presents and I haven't given them to the friend I made them for yet, I'd better not post any photos here yet! I hope to put pictures up soon though :-)