Eight Reasons to Smile

1. Blowing bubbles for the first time

2. An old cane laundry basket found at the markets ($2!) and piles of hand knitted baby clothes. Cane baskets make doing laundry that little bit nicer I find.

3. Emerson's treasures, old and new

4. Brave visitors at the duck pond and a fascinated little Miss

5. A coat of white paint to bring a bookcase back to life
6. A 'new to me' vintage dinner service my parents had hidden away
7. A sweet thrifted basket ($2.50)
8. Wonderful mail - Greer spoiling me with gorgeous wool!

What's making you smile?

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Have you entered the Sussan $100 Gift Voucher Giveaway yet? Winner announced tomorrow.

Yarn Along

The permission that breastfeeding grants you to just stop, sit down and feed, has gone a fair way towards granting me reading time lately. Though at other times my breastfeeding multi-tasking has included making puzzles, finishing a row of knitting, buttering toast or dressing a toddler. When you throw in a fair bit of baby gazing, I'm surprised I get any reading done at all. And yet I have. Since last week I have finished this book and I'm half way through this one. I'm feeling inspired and positive about my future knitting plans, as well as my intention to return to the jewellery bench soon.

My first Madelinetosh yarn arrived yesterday and I have been enjoying looking at it and touching it, as one does with new yarn. I have however made myself a promise to finish the hot water bottle cozy, Emerson's blanket and Emerson's raglan sweater before making a start with this wool, lest I add to the unfinished pile...
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Joining in with Ginny's Yarn Along.

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.

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More Creative Spaces here.

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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.

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I was welcomed home by these delights in the mail. A pleasing distraction from the awaiting chores and laundry... 

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Tea and possibilities.
I found that a synonym for 'daydreaming' is 'woolgathering'.
Indeed.

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Feeling grateful for good friends, days out, library books, magazine subscriptions, craft shopping, a napping toddler and inspiration for new projects. Now, where to start... 

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I've been meaning to make something with the check fabric I thrifted last month. I thought the fabric really lovely and a bit vintagy and knew I had enough for a skirt or a blouse. After rummaging through my pattern drawer, I rediscovered the lovely Sencha by Colette Patterns and proceeded to spread myself out on the dining room table. I chose version two and I was quite please with how the top turned out, (despite needing a pressing before being photographed). 

However, when I tried it on after adding the buttons, it was a different matter altogether. It was too big. Much too big. I followed the patterns advice to go up to the larger size if my measurements fell between sizes and, well, somehow it ended up much, much too large. Never mind, thought I, I will simply take it in. I do not blame the pattern, I've made it before and it worked out perfectly. I feel sure it was a case of operator error.

Hubby also happened to be home when I tried it on. He noted my choice of fabric and the buttons up the back of the garment before informing me that I had created a fancy 'flannie'. My goodness! He is right! Alas, all that time spent tracing, cutting, pinning and stitching and I now all I have is an over sized house shirt. Sewing fail. I threw the top on to the floor in disgust.

Thankfully there was a diversion. My order from Bendigo Woollen Mills arrived and took my mind of my sewing folly.  I spent the evening on the couch, hook in hand, avoiding my fancy flannie, and made a cap sleeve cardi for a friends baby instead.

The flannie is still on the floor, in the corner of my wardrobe...

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Ravelry.

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Spotlight, the Australian craft store, is having a sale on some of their wool. I finally found the right colour yellow to finish this granny square blanket for Cohen. But first there are also two baby blankets on my to do list. I've made a start on the first, heavily inspired by the blanket in these photos. Every baby needs a little crochet blanket I think.

It's so nice to be crocheting again.

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Ravelry.

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A craft shopping expedition with friends.

A warm Sunday morning.

Coffee and croissants.

Wool shopping...

Even when I go craft shopping meaning to buy some wool, it can be quite difficult to walk past the sale fabric and not stop and peruse those on offer.

And maybe one or two other things will catch my eye, so I don't buy as much yarn as I intended because that fabric really needs to be in my stash...

Do you know what I mean?

But eventually I do manage to make it to the yarn section and I browse each isle. I may end up in conversation with an elderly couple who wish to discuss their grandchild. I gaze at all the colours and find that I will still reach for navy, white and grey as I think they look lovely on a boy.

And I will drive home thinking about what it is I am going to make and how soon I will be able to make a start on it and what I will tell my husband if he asks about the fabric...

I need a skein machine...

Being fairly new to all things wool related I realised last night just how much I have to learn. I brought this amazing skein of wool from etsy and waited with great anticipation for it to arrive so I could start my next project. My wool-know-how friend informed me that I couldn't start without first winding the skein into a ball.

Right. No worries. Sounds easy.

It took several hours last night, of me swearing like a sailor, to untangle the skein and wind it into this ball. Goggle helped with directions but I fail to believe that some people find winding a skein into a ball by hand 'calming'. I was loosing my calm a little more with each turn of the ball and each new knot.

Please never allow me to purchase a skein ever again. I don't care how beautiful the wool is. Winding it takes years off my life.

Unless of course I have a swift... surely that would be really easy?

Right?

A little more help from my photography assistant.

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PS. Don't forget about the giveaway.