Blisters, Puzzles and a Good Idea

Blister is done! This has turned out so much better than I anticipated. It was shaping up nicely but after blocking it has just come into it's own. This is lace scarf number four and I am still amazed at the difference blocking makes. It is now so light and airy (check the photo with the light behind it).

Once again, for the record, the pattern is Monika Steinbauer's Three Sisters Scarves #3. It is knit in Araucania Ranco Solid in the Moss Colourway. The whole thing was done on 3.75mm needles.



I have moved onto the pink and white silk/wool blend that I bought at the market last week. My goodness this yarn is just divine! It is just so lovely in the hand and the colours are beautiful and finding a pattern for it has been a big fat PAIN in the behind! Now there's the Pink Puzzle.

I originally tried something from the Luxury One Skein Wonders book that (once I traced a ton of errata on the net) was just a little too busy with the variegation. I have always said "pattern or variegation". I then had a fiddle with designing something myself. It has come to my attention that I am not that great at designing lace.

Finally I went back to a person who has done me well before - Monika Steinbauer. I decided upon Monica's Three Sisters Scarves #1. It is simple enough to really work with the yarn and I think it is coming along swimmingly. I have done it two repeats narrower, mainly due to my concern that I might not have enough yarn at the original width.


Trust me, once it is blocked it will be magnificent!

And lastly the good idea. I can't really claim this as original, I am quite sure I saw something similar on Knitty Gritty at some stage. But here you go anyway. Get an old blank CD container, ram your centre pull ball onto the spool and put it on the floor to knit from. Not only does the yarn feed really nicely from the ball, it also doesn't roll everywhere and it stays nice and clean! Genuis I tells you.

Love the Local Market!

I am a sucker for markets and the kid's school runs a great little craft market once a month. Today was a treat, oh what a haul.


50 gram balls of 100% wool 8ply for $2 a ball. So bright and cheerful. I have no plans at all for these but they just scream "fun kid's stuff".


Nearly 100g of (I am guessing) 5ply wool/silk hand-dyed for $10. I see a scarf in it's future.


And a huge bag of buttons for $5. Believe me when I tell you....

There is every colour of the rainbow in there.

A sweet diversion.

Have I mentioned before that I love Ravelry?

A few weeks ago I grabbed a pile of older mags of a destash thread on Rav. I am one of these sickos that loves to be surrounded by books and magazines. So much inspiration, so many starting points, so many great ideas! Browsing them yesterday at Maccas with the girls I came across a cute little cupcake pin cushion pattern in Knit Today (a UK mag). Not having a real reason to make them, I reasoned that I would buy some nice pins and give them to some of the chics in my life for Christmas.

As kismet would have it, I was heading from Maccas to shopping with Ma and Pa. Yes, I am so tragic that I go shopping with my folks every week. If you must know, I really like it. Mum and I check out the yarn aisle, Dad and Rohan do the toys, we all do our groceries and then we have coffee.

Would you believe that Kmart are clearing out yarns? So here I was with the very cute cupcake pattern in my mind and cheap Cleckheaton Country and Panda Starshine at my dispossal. What is a girl to do? I quickly selected some suitably cupcakish colours and headed to the registers (with a Thomas engine that Rohan had chosen with Pa, a whole other story ::insert eye rolling here::).

Once the groceries had been collected and rehomed in the pantry I just had to start. Shortly there after kismet inetrevened again and my dear friend Antoinette popped over with my little handknit princess, Holly and the beautiful (and asleep) Wil. Anty saw the cupcake in creation and declared that it was perfect given that Holly is recieving a tea set for Christmas. This was quickly followed by a request to have some made should she purchase the yarn.

Well, I have been debating back and forth for weeks as to what to do about Holly's birthday on the 20th (yep, 5 days before Christmas, a very inconvenient birthing ;)). I really did want to make her something but was struggling for inspiration. So Anty was told that no yarn purchase would be required and Holly is getting cupcakes to go with her tea set and I now have a proper reason to make some of the adorably cute things.


I am now contemplating a knitted cake for Christmas.....

All Done!

Falling Water is all done and at the risk of sounding immodest, it is magnificent! Everything that is said about the colours of Wollmeise is absolutely true. The colours are just so vibrant and they seem to just shimmer on the yarn. This scarf is luminescent in sunlight.

I am so pleased that I decided to make a scarf from this yarn rather than socks. It would have been completely wasted in a pair of shoes. I am also very grateful that I nabbed it quickly off destash on Ravelry. Gotta love Ravelry destash!

I think I have in mind the recipient for this one but you will just need to wait until Christmas to find out who the lucky person is.



For the record the colourway is Wilder Mohn, hence it's nickname of "Wilder Water".

On to the next task, I present "Blister" which is actually the Three Sister's Scarf #3. A love of Aussie rhyming slang leads me to have to call it blister. This is being knit up in Araucania Ranco Solid (Moss Colourway). I think this is ultimately a good choice given the somewhat mixed reviews I have read about the wear of this yarn as socks. It is a little hard to tell from the photo but it has quite a nice bronzy streak through it. In case I forget to mention it later, I am using 4mm needles rather than the 3.5mm suggested needle size. The yarn just seemed a little substantial for 3.5's.

Things that make you go "WOW!"

I am home from a lovely weekend away with my dear friend Beth. We headed to Warrnambool this time around and day tripped to the Twelve Apostles and Port Fairy.

Two nights away and several hours driving proved the ideal opportunity to get some knitting, magazine reading, DVD watching and relaxing done. Falling Water is finished and blocking. Without wishing to sound conceited, this made me gasp when I looked at it pinned out.


The Wollmeise is just stunning and the lace just sets it off beautifully. I am really chuffed.

And some random shots from the weekend....

Wow indeed!

Mmmm Yarn....

Just arrived in the post....

Yarn Cafe Four Bags Full Merino in "Siren" and "Tiger Cub" as well as Wooltopia Organic DK Merino in "Limelight". Ahhh the joys of trophy yarn - yarn you buy because it is pretty with no real intentions of doing anything with it!

A Beautiful Gift

Okay a beautiful gift and a fairly crap photo. If the Yarn Harlot read my blog she would recognise that hair - that's exactly what we frizz-prone folk get when it is humid and rainy! Those dark circles? Well that would be a lack of sleep and a surfeit of red wine.

The Cloud Bolero that I am wearing is actually the object of interest. It is a late but gorgeous gift from the lovely Tania. Knit expertly in Jo Sharp Slikroad Aran in a teal colourway, it is absolutely lovely and I love it.

Thanks Tan. :)

Little Things

Ahhh baby knitting, I am such a fan! A few wee little things for babies I know (or know of).

The Curly Purly Soaker is made from dirt cheap Kmart Clinker that I hand-dyed an age ago. I really like the colours but I know that they aren't everyone's cup of tea. My friend Josh and his partner Brit have just had a little girl and they are the kind of people who a) are using cloth nappies (go guys!) and b) love bright and cheerful things. The ruffles are just to girl it all up a bit!

The cabled bib is a Christmas gift so no clues yet who that is for but I can tell you that it is made in Cotton Fleece and slightly modified from the pattern in that it is 40 stitches wide and about 21cm long.

I have said it before and I will say it again - I LOVE BABY KNITTING! Not enough to have a nother one of my own though.

It's nice to be appreciated.

A beautifully worded card and a gift certificate for a massage from two of our leaving year 12s. Man some love has been poured into those two and it has been worth every second. Those of you who don't spend time with the teenagers of this country are truly missing out. There is such talent and potential out there.

New Seamless Kimono Sweater Pattern!

The Seamless Kimono Sweater pattern is now available for purchase in sizings from newborn to 6 years. Click the link below to purchase your downloadable PDF file for A$5.