I smell a rat...

Seems I just left a whole lot of posts in draft instead of coming back here!

There was a little knit a long for a very cute rat - not much yarn or knitting required but look at all those ends.

When she was done Ratty went out to investigate the herb garden bed at the local community garden.

What is this lovely looking green stuff?

Yum, Spinach...

but I smell something delicious in the kitchen

Look fresh cake!

All these adventures before going home to entertain Maggie the cat.

Quite unusually for this time of year the gardens in our neighbourhood are still green.

Hope there is some green in your world, (probably without the rat)

Pattern: Rats by Sara Elizabeth Kelner available on Ravelry

Saturday...

Taking things easy and getting in a few rows done on my latest scarf project, because surely winter will come again one day...

I may have taken a little trip to the Spotty store to stock up on yarn while it was still a bargain, even though the cashier tried to charge me full price! What is up with that?

Her excuse was that yarn wasn't her department, seriously what is that computer thing for that she uses?

Nice jewel tones to go with some brights I may have collected in the last month.

There are plans for all this yarn, but my hands apparently don't work as fast as my grand ideas think they do?

Hope your weekend is off to a good start and there's sunshine in your creative space.

FNSI October

So the last 2 weeks have sped by in a blur of yarn in all the colours, (oh, and the landscape, and planes of last weekends short break in the country).

Tonight I'm prepared for a quiet night in with a number of projects in various stages of completion. A comfy couch and a project for every eventuality...

The blanket is ready for a final stripe in the pretty green, the orange and blue are a sock in progress, well it is cast on, the blue with all the speckles are mitts awaiting their finishing touches and the red is waiting to be cast on, another hat and mitts coming up!

Wonder which of these will get the most attention tonight?

Hope there are lots of your favourite colours in your creative space this weekend.

Interlude

Same place as last week.

Unwind craft cafe. 

There was a little gap between my morning and afternoon schedule, I was in the neighbourhood so stopped by for a refreshment and a couple of rows.

The same project as last week, now I'm up to the border. I do believe I'll get to wear this scarf before the winter's gone from these parts.

May your weekend include bright stitches.

New...

Yarn and needles you can't see.

I haven't decided what the yarn will become yet, but I am using my new needles and they are lovely to work with.

 Another headband, because the first one has been in almost continuous use since I finished it.

And new socks all finished and ready for wearing.

A perfect knitting day today, in good company. 

Hope there's something new in your creating space.

A little knitting

Using two shades of blue this time, one pure wool and one wool silk mix.

Lovely. 

On a perfect Autumn day.

Hope your weekend includes some stitches.

Heart a hat...

Still playing with colours and hats.

Pretty pink and blue this time for more hearts on a hat.

Trying to decide whether the solid hearts should be closer to the brim or the crown on this design.

Both of these are made from the same chart starting and finishing on a different row. 

Both hats are knit in Cleckheaton country 8 ply, only the blue is a current colour.

The grey and plum one was made last month, I didn't realise I hadn't shown it previously.

Just to confuse things even more I'm planning another one with the solid hearts around the centre of the body of the hat. Just need to choose the colours for that one, oh and maybe finish the scarf I started on Monday.

Do you have a preference for the placement of the solid hearts?

Hope it's warm in your creating space.

One done...

It's true I didn't finish Friday night when stitching with friends or even Saturday at knit group but it was done by bedtime!

I added a plain stripe in the middle of the colourwork and I am really happy with the way this hat looks completed. 

 Makallie with modifications in Cleckheaton Country Naturals.

 And progress on another. I worked on this one today while knitting with friends and have begun the crown decreases. Yay. 

There may have been a little yarn shopping at the nearby Lincraft this afternoon, I have more ideas!

Playing with textures in mystery yarn from the oppy.

Hope everyone had time for some stitches on their weekend.  

Thanks to Cheryl for hosting Friday Night with Friends.

Spoilt for choice...

The good thing about finishing more than one project in a week is the opportunity to start more than one new project.

So I now have two new hats and a cowl on the needles. 

On the left a brown cable beanie knit from the brim, on the right another of the garter stripes beanies knit from the crown and at the bottom a blue cowl with cables.

I wonder which one will get the most attention tonight while stitching with friends?

Wishing you a weekend with plenty of stitches.

Finishing...

In no particular order, because I have absolutely no idea where April escaped to!

A cowl knit from yarn with all the colours - and a little fluffy too.

Whimsycowl designed by Nim Teasedale in Moda Vera Fern - now discontinued

I knit directly from the part ball which I had - the yellow stripe at the bottom and the blue stripe at the top were just how it came out. Perfect to pair with almost any outfit.

Playing with pictures in knitting to make another hat or three!

My own design knit in 4 Seasons Pure wool 8 ply

A test knit of a shawl pattern all ready to be gifted to a friend living in a cold place.

Slow dance by Nim Teasedale knit in Bendigo Woollen mills Luxury 4 ply - colour Lake (which is a much nicer colour than it appears on my monitor).

Another test knit that needs to remain a secret for now, but lets just say it's super cute with a big personality and lots of hair.

Oh, yeah more hats have been added to the stash - I don't think there'll be any excuse for a cold head around here.

Makamie Hat - all three are knit in Cleckheaton country 8 ply.

Needles are a-clickin here these days with more projects already filling some of the needles freed up from all the finishing.

Thanks to Kris and Peg for hosting OPAM.

Wishing you all a wonderful May.

Good for on the go..

and for using the little bits and pieces.

More hats have been on and off the needles recently.

Another one started ready for this weekends outings

Perfect sized canvas for playing with colour and design.

The latest batch are sized for bigger people though there is a smaller one in there too, no picture here though as I'm experiencing technological issues, maybe later? Fixed!

Lovely texture and a little colourwork

I've been reminded that not all yarn is created to a standard measure and my tension moves around a bit when working in the round.

Three hats with the same number of stitches in different patterns and yarns, all labeled 8 ply, turned out a variety of sizes.

Three the same but different

It is a fun experiment and there will be more than one new design at the end of all this play time!

And lots of hats for warm heads this winter.

Wishing you a wonderful weekend filled with lots of playtime.

The New Year has been all about the knitting...

but that may soon change?

Well next week will herald the beginning of the work year for me, I'm easing in gently.

I finished my new tank top while relaxing on New Years Day. The Noro played very nice and made the stripes the same on both sides of the front neck. Yay.

Catch in Gem cotton and Noro Taiyo sock

Next up was a simple garter stitch scarf (I know the pattern is called a shawl), it is lovely and light and the little lace edging was knit with the body and kept things interesting enough for this to move off the needles rather quickly.

Sweet Summer Shawl in Misti Alpaca -French Wine colourway

I started and am now at the hem of this sweet little short sleeved cardigan which should be perfect for the cool evenings to come. Well it will be if I get it finished before the cool days set in. Ha.

Ariane in Bendigo Woollen Mills Luxury - African Violet

Unfortunately the Father's Christmas socks have languished while I worked on all these projects for me, but it seems I need to get the foot done in a hurry as I will be visiting the old people this weekend. Best get off here and get a move on with that foot!

Hope your 2015 is off to a fabulous start and your needles are singing.

Finishing all the footwear...

This was a sock pattern that I just had to make up - and when I had these leftovers available it seemed the perfect time had come. I really enjoyed knitting these up even if the yarn presented some issues as it likes to stick to itself which slows things down when trying to use 2 colours.

You'll recognise the dark one from the Father's socks I completed last month, the fog colour was a friends leftovers.

Eisern design by General Hogbuffer in Regia design line - eggplant and fog

A pretty pair of anklets with a lace fold down cuff. I made these in size small so they knit up very quickly compared with the usual large size I make. There will be a bigger pair soon.

Layna Anklets in Bendigo Athena 4 ply Ice Blue (I really did pick up a big bag of this last month)

Getting ready for some summer fun - I hooked up a couple of pairs of the barefoot sandals in cotton with my 1.5 mm hook.

These are perfect for dressing up feet without wearing shoes.

No purpose other than fun.

Hope your week is off to a fun start.

Ooh Look!

That would be one sock with just the toe graft to go!

Yarn Regia design line - Kaffe in Eggplant and fog

Eisern design by General Hogbuffer, with my modifications in the twisted stitch section where I was too big for my 'Socks' thinking I knew what came next and not checking the chart for details. It all worked out in the end and the fit is perfect.

 A successful weekend knitting project.

Wondering if one is enough?

Happy Monday

Hearts and flowers for spring

 A couple of weeks back a bag of crochet cotton came into my possession. It just happened to be something I had been looking out for, a lovely range of 1970's colours in a thin weight. I thought they would work well for an ageing project that's been patiently waiting for a little injection of colour. I haven't yet pulled out said aged project but I decided to have a play with some of the colours anyway.

A little Christmas crafting.

What about three colours together?

Pretty new coasters for Spring in all the colours.

Various crochet cottons, most unlabeled, and my 1.5mm hook - using Mandala pattern found here.

These have been multiplying while I neglect to finish all the half started things.

I hope I have some colours left for the ageing project when I'm done with these little beauties!

Would you use these on your table?

There's something new growing in my project bag too - among the neglected projects.

Wishing you all the colours in your creative place this week.

Oooh - Shiny

I was lucky enough to accompany friends last weekend on a little yarn trip to Bendigo where our destination was the Woollen Mills.

I picked up some new yarn from the back room - Athena 4 ply in the Ice Blue colourway, along with other goodies. The Athena is a lovely mix of Wool, silk and bamboo and turns out to be delightful to knit with. Lucky as I managed to snag another colour too!

Unable to contain myself I cast on just as soon as I could to make another mitt in this pretty lacy pattern.

Today there was a little train knitting, the mitt is working up quickly.

I may soon be looking for some one handed people as it appears I am incapable of completing pairs this month?!>#@?

May your hands be cosy wrapped in a little luxury.

Sometimes...

projects take much longer than they should!

Take the chocolate stripe socks for The Father as an example - 3 months in the making (give or take a day or two). Lots of other things kept jumping in ahead of these socks and then when the first one was done I sent it home with The Mother for a fitting. I did not have good notes on these so I had to wait until the first one came back to me to make another that almost matches.

Improvised rib with cable in Dad size, Moda Vera Noir chocolate colourway

I included some fairly serious reinforcement through the heel and sole area to try to ward off the holes which are appearing in the socks I knit for The Father last year.

All done ready for delivery Sunday.

After knitting an inch or two of ribbing on my blue lace project, which is still undecided what it wishes to become, I decided that I had sufficient yarn and it really would be more usable with one more lace repeat so right after I took this picture I ripped out the ribbing. Gotta love that about yarn it really is flexible enough to change on a whim.

Rose garden lace in Rowan wool/silk blend

This week has been a lot about socialising and I couldn't resist this little afternoon indulgence.

Cookies and cream cheesecake with coffee.

Enjoying a little spring sunshine and the flowers in other peoples gardens.

Promise - I didn't pick any.

So tonight is FNWF and I'll be in so I may just join in the fun.

Will you be stitching along tonight?

Wishing you sunshine on your weekend.