No I haven't been sitting on my bum doing nothing...

But thank you so much for asking. Apart from the usual assortment of madness that arises from a household of 5, I have been getting some knitting ( and a small amount of crochet) done, I just haven't been able to find the extra twenty minutes to blog any of them!

So here, in true Hollywood style, is a montage.

All little things as you can see, some for friends, some for charity, some for swaps and even some for me! I have also been doing some top-secret knitting that I will reveal at a later date that has been keeping me busy.

There are a few WIPs on the go too. I am making the 103-1 Jacket in Eskimo or Silke-Alpaca with A-shape in Bendigo Mystique 16ply. Catchy name huh? I call it Eskimo Joe. It is a quickish knit that I have had on the go for a bit but life and other projects kept getting in the way (big sigh), ain't it always the way?


I am also still slogging away at my seedy socks in Artyarns Merino. I have one finished and I am up to the foot of the second. They are my travel project so they get neglected for long periods of time and pulled out in waiting rooms and kid's swimming lessons. They are lovely though...

Wonderful acts of generousity

The lovely ladies at Woolaholics have been busy with their needles and hooks for the benefit of the World Vision Guardian Angels Program. This is the pile of goodies that we have managed to produce!

In that big pile are:

• 6 scarves
• 3 jumpers
• 5 pairs of booties
• 3 pairs of mittens
• 1 pair of shorties
• 1 pair of longies

AND

• 62 hats!!!!!

Just in case there doesn't look like that much, here is the pile covered by a nearly four year old for perspective.....

Thank You for your incredible generousity Kelli, Tania, Sam, Susanne, Leanne, Rebecca, Hollie, Deb, and Mel. Gosh I hope I didn't forget anyone. If I did I apologise profusely.

This is a public service announcement!

My dear friend Sam always says that she looks terrible in hats. Not that I am adverse to this opinion - it has yielded me some lovely hats that she didn't like. Well I have discovered the problem!

No my friends, Sam does not have a hideously deformed head, or ears that hang to her knees or hair bigger than Diana Ross. No these are not the problem. The problem? Sam didn't know how to wear a hat.

Let me explain....

This was how she was wearing this nicely constructed Slouchy Copy Cat Hat. Note that she has it sitting practically on her eyebrows and she looks just a little like she might be about to steal your video player.

Now this is how she should be wearing this lovely hat.

Note that it sits further back on the head, at about ear level and as a result she looks jaunty and cosmopolitan!

Let this be a lesson! There is an art to hat wearing and it definitely isn't this.....

Aussie, Aussie, Aussie!

Oi, Oi, Oi!

My little Aussie Supporters watching the swimming today.

And yep, the Duncmeister is wearing his Moccies. You can't get much more Aussie than that!

A craft relating post coming soon. I promise...

Has it really been a year?

I can hardly believe that it has been a year since last Sam and I headed to the Bendigo Sheep and Wool Show. Since then I have done so much more knitting and have so much more yarn! You might think that this alone might have curbed my stash enhancement activities, but......

Instead of the one day scramble across to Bendigo the girls and I decided to head across Friday night. Tania, bless her cotton-picking heart had booked a little two room unit for the family and rearranged her plans so that we three could stay there Friday night and her family tonight. This allowed us to head to the Ravelry breakfast organised by Feisty Wench and funded by Australian Country Spinners that was held this morning without getting up at the butt-crack of dawn.

It also allowed me to make Sam drink far too much red wine and be too hungover to eat anything at the breakfast. She did however win the best ACS-using item with her Lizard Ridge which did take some of the pain out of her throbbing head. Being a sensible girl myself, I drank a sedate organic white (plus a few small glasses of Sam's red) and was in much better knick.

A few random shots and thoughts:

Isn't it sad that poor alpacas have to hang around with their own kind. The white alpacas with the white alpacas. And because I am an equal opportunity photographer...


The black alpacas with the black alpacas. What a shame for the poor alpacas. But then we found...



The United Nations of Alpacas and we were much happier.

You have got to love alpacas, they are just too cute! This one in particular seemed to forge a bond with Sam. What do you reckon? Love at first sight?


Once Sam started to feel a little better (it took three coffees, some Dutch pancakes and a cookie) she was forced to "take the edge off" with just a little knitting.

And about then I realised that the hood of her rogue sat just so she looked like a little we teddy bear, complete with widdle teddy bear ears.

Trust me, I could see it.

We saw (and purchased) some great yarn....

Wendy Dennis Polwarth amongst other things. I love Wendy's yarn!

And we saw some terrible things

No not Sam (how could you think such a thing? How unkind), look behind Sam.

And whilst we felt the need to be audited we managed to resist. Who knew the Tom Cruise knitted?


Is there anywhere the Scientologists won't go?

And a fine time was had by all!

The Not Rocket Science Coffee Holder

I know I said that there would be no more work these holidays but it would seem that I lied. This is just a quicky and as the title suggests, it is definitely not rocket science so here goes. I really like the mirror image cables that this design creates all the way around.

Materials:

30-35m Worsted Weight Yarn

5mm DPNs
Cable needle
Darning Needle.

Gauge: 20 sts/10 cm

Abbreviations:

C6B: slip 3 stitches onto the cable needle, hold them behind the work, knit 3 stitches, then the 3 from the cable needle.

C6F: slip 3 stitches onto the cable needle, hold them in front of the work, knit 3 stitches, then the 3h from the cable needle.

Pattern:

CO 48sts, join to work in the round.

Work 5 rounds of 2x2 ribbing.

Cable section
Rounds 1-3: [k6, p2] repeat to end
Round 4: [C6F, p2, C6B, p2] repeat to end
Rounds 5-10: [k6, p2] repeat to end
Round 11: [C6F, p2, C6B, p2] repeat to end
Rounds 12-14: [k6, p2] repeat to end

Work 4 rounds of 2x2 rib and bind off.

Weave in your ends and Voila! See not even close to rocket science.

This pattern is provided free for your own personal use. You may knit it for yourself, as a gift, a swap or for charity. This pattern is not intended for commercial use. Any intended commercial use requires permission in writing.

Nameraka Hat!

Phew what a holidays!

A little pattern for a hat that matches the Nameraka Sweater.

Material

12 ply [10 ply, 8 ply] yarn – You should get away with 60 - 100m total.
1 stitch marker
6mm [5mm, 4mm] 40cm circular
6mm [5mm, 4mm] DPNs
Darning needle

Gauge: 16sts [20 sts, 22sts] / 10cm

Glossary

pm – place marker
k2tog – Knit two stitches together

Finished Measurements

Child’s Hat – 45 cm circumference
Adult’s Hat – 55 cm circumference

Pattern:

For child's hat: CO 70 [90, 100] stitches;

For adult's hat: CO 90 [110, 120] stitches;

Join to work in the round being careful not to twist stitches, pm.

Round 1: Knit all stitches
Round 2: Purl all stitches
Repeat these two rounds once more for child's hat or twice more for adult's hat.

Change colour (if you are using two), knit one round

Work the rest of the body of the hat in woven stitch as described below until child's hat measures 12.5 cms or adult's hat measures 18cm:

Round 1: *k1, bring yarn forward, slip 1 purlwise, take yarn back*, repeat from * to * to end of round
Round 2: knit all stitches
Round 3: *bring yarn forward, slip 1 purlwise, take yarn back, k1*, repeat from * to * to end of round
Round 4: knit all stitches

Decreases (change to DPNs when necessary):
Change back to original colour and knit one round

Round 1: [k8, k2tog] repeat to end
Round 2: [k7, k2tog] repeat to end
Round 3: [k6, k2tog] repeat to end
Round 4: [k5, k2tog] repeat to end
Round 5: [k4, k2tog] repeat to end
Round 6: [k3, k2tog] repeat to end
Round 7: [k2, k2tog] repeat to end
Round 8: [k1, k2tog] repeat to end
Round 1: [k2tog] repeat to end

Cut the yarn, thread through remaining stitches and secure.

Finishing

Weave in ends.

This pattern is provided free for your own personal use. You may knit it for yourself, as a gift, a swap or for charity. This pattern is not intended for commercial use. Any intended commercial use requires permission in writing.