Yarn Along

There is a delicious chill to the mornings and evenings now. The kind of cooler weather that invites a spot of yarn shopping and the addition of a basket of yarn to the side-table in the lounge room. And the kind of weather that makes you want to lay in bed all day reading a wonderful new book - Dear Thief - one for your to-read list for sure.

I am thoroughly enjoying knitting another of my favourite cot blankets - the Purl Soho Super Easy Baby Blanket. Miles of delightful and satisfying garter stitch. Perfect for school holiday knitting while suffering from a cold, curled up on the couch with hubby, whilecatching up on some tv watching of an evening. I look forward to gifting the finished blanket to a lovely school Mum and friend expecting her fourth baby. 

After all, every baby needs their own hand knit blanket, right?

-

Joining in with Ginny.

Ravelry here.

Sneak Peek

Progress from the bench. The new collection is coming along nicely! There are earrings and pendants in the works. 

I will have more to show you soon!

Yarn Along

This is my third stripey garter stitch baby blanket. I always have one on the go now and add to it here and there, between projects, or when my concentration is lacking. I have made one for a friends little boy, one for Emerson and this blanket in progress is for friends who are expecting. 

Handmade blankets seem to be my go to baby gift and I'm a bit addicted to stripes. I love the simple look of these blankets, which were inspired by the Purl Bee's 'Super Easy Baby Blanket.' I use 8ply wool and 4.5mm circular needles and cast on 100 stitches. Then I simply knit stripes using either 50 or 100 grams of wool for each stripe. These blankets also make for perfect car crafting, as I don't need a pattern and it requires more time than actual concentration. Whenever Dave is driving I throw this project into the nappy bag and try to add a few more rows. 

I have been reading 'Sister' by Rosamund Lupton. It is next months book club book. It's a lot darker than the books I generally choose myself. I find that after reading it for awhile it puts me in to a strange head space. I'm not very good at distancing myself from the characters and it's quite emotional and depressing. I shall need something a little lighter after this. 

Any suggestions?

-

Joining in with Ginny's Yarn Along.

Ravelry.

Good things

a freezer full of home made pesto
overflowing with oranges
the sweetest knitted dress from an absolute sweet heart
little yellow flowers dropping onto the table
off the needles and time to rummage through the button collection

My Creative Space

A blanket for Emerson, like this one I made for a friends baby, when I first announced my pregnancy.

Ravelry.

-

More Creative Spaces here.

My Creative Space

As the 39 week mark approaches, I am still here knitting, reading and waiting. The back and front of the raglan sweater are finished and I've begun on the sleeve. In the past week I've made my way through 'The Slap' and 'The Seamstress.' Two rather large volumes I highly doubted I'd have time for when I picked them up from the library. (I love ordering my books online and getting a text message when they are ready to be collected at the library. Sometimes you just want to keep library visits quick with a toddler in tow.) 

I'm feeling a little emotional and frustrated about our camera today. It's funny how attached one gets to ones camera, is it not? My dear camera comes with me everywhere and is always ready at a moments notice to capture a toddler smile or an interesting cloud. Unfortunately our beloved Lumix has incredibly bad timing. The shutter button will only depress with all sorts of super human effort, making most photos blurry as a result. It has thus been taken off to the repair man, a month out of warranty, and just before the impending birth. I feel quite a bit naked without it already and I have little hope of it making it's return in time for the birth. Thank goodness for sisters cameras, though things may be quiet here on the blog until I get a chance to borrow it.

Hope all is well with you and many thanks also for all the lovely comments of late.

Ravelry.

-

More Creative Spaces here.

My Creative Space

I started this 8ply cabled vest for Cohen on Monday, after convincing myself that I would just cast on and knit the ribbing before returning to the 4ply raglan cardigan. Just to see what the wool was like. But It's knitting up so quickly. And the raglan cardigan? Um, well...

Ravelry.

-

More Creative Spaces here.

+

36 weeks. Another ultrasound today. Perhaps our last black and white visions of our little ones' internal world before we meet him/her in person. In the meantime, I've been distracting myself with cooking, knitting, reading and resting. Wondering all the while, nonetheless, how much longer it will be. One week? Four? And taking each moment as it comes.

My Creative Space

Completed back, front ribbing begun

I have been waiting on the arrival of some wool, but felt the need to have something on my needles in the meantime. Especially given all the moments to knit I have been finding lately. (Though who knows for how much longer.)

After completing my first ever raglan sleeve garment, I felt quite optimistic about trying another one, though for the baby this time. I discovered this old knitting pamphlet amongst some gifted knitting booklets and retrieved a ball of 4ply wool from my stash - which had been brought for a project that has since been abandoned. 

I love that this pattern has a 4ply and 8 ply version. If I can knit it with success this time, I dare say I shall be knitting it again in the future. I did have a fair bit of ripping out to do after I realised I had been K2tog, P2tog, when I should have been K2, P2tog for the raglan decrease. I'm also hoping that blocking it at the end will have the fabric looking less holey that it does at present, though perhaps it is the wool?

What have you been making?

Ravelry.

-

More Creative Spaces here.

+

Another step forward on the knitting journey. My first attempt at knitting lace. I couldn't resist the lure of this yarn any longer. So I allowed myself to begin stitching, just a little.

In the eternal struggle to finish one project before embarking on another, I find I am fighting a loosing battle...

-

Free Pattern: Classic Lace Baby Throw

Yarn: Bendigo Woolen Mills Luxury 8 ply in Stone

Ravelry.

My Creative Space

'I love deadlines. I love the wooshing sound they make as they fly by'. - Douglas Adams

After completing my first cabled cushion I immediately and enthusiastically cast on an even larger cabled cushion. For a swap no less. (I love that the tones in the wool tie in with the colours of my latest gem set piece.)

I've been reminded several times since casting on that I do not yet posses the necessary knitting skill to cable without ample concentration. And I have a two year old. Thus I have been flipping between Cohen-awake-knitting (a simple garter stitch cardigan requiring less concentration) and Cohen-asleep-knitting (the cabled cushion).

Stitch by stitch, progress is being made on both projects. I'm determined to have my cushion finished on time. Though I have a back up cushion planned to prevent any possible wooshing sound...

-

More creative spaces here.

+

Sneak peek...

I find that when contemplating the creation of a new piece, the stones themselves are often the catalysts for the designs. With this banded agate, the tones and lines reminded me of pomegranate seeds, resulting in the discrete pomegranate saw piercing beneath the setting.

The completed piece will be in the shop before the weekend.