And they said it couldn't be done!

Yep, those are bona fide dolphin pants you see there! Of course receipt of said pants did elicit mutterings of gloves.....

The things we do for love.

As you may have gathered my youngest, Rohan, is quite the demander when it comes to handmade goodies. This is a man who likes handmade, knows what he wants and is not at all afraid to ask for it. Surely I blogged about the Muppet made of dead Muppet that he thought would be great fun? No? I just checked and I didn't. Okay, I shall digress momentarily from the original purpose of this post to tell you about the Muppet from Dead Muppet (MDM).

I took Rohan shopping with me one day to Spotlight and he picked up some novelty yuck. I chortled and told him that it was dead Muppet and that it come from the pelts of Muppets that had "gone to the farm". (I should add here that we do have a very warped sense of humour here and these sorts of comments are seen as hilariously funny). This led to him wandering around Spotlight commenting (and giggling) on the mountains of DM until he came to some seriously bright red cack that he decided was perfect Elmo colour and that I should knit him a MDM.

Wishing to encourage the love of handmade goodness I obliged and this resulted...

Rohan was particularly taken by the pom-pom eyes and apparently the "little black bits in the eyes are very impressive"! Not that you can see them in this shot but they are definitely there.

Anyway, back to the original story. Yesterday I was informed that Rohan's toy dolphin, Dolphin-Seal (yes that is really his name), was suffering under the burden of this recent cold snap and required some clothes to keep his dolphiny-goodness warm. It would seem that what Dolphin-Seal needed most was a jumper, knitted and made in his favourite colour - black. It was also related that Dolphin-Seal needed this very quickly as he was particularly cold and it would be best if I made it right then.

Because it is impossible to say no too often to a cute little ranga who likes his stuff handmade I went and found some Woolbale I picked up cheap one day and proceeded to measure Dolphin-Seal up for his jumper. Dolphins, as I am sure you know, are difficult creatures to outfit. This may account for the fact that they spend most of their lives au naturale. There had to be fin holes (because Dolphin-Seal likes to pick things up and give fin cuddles) and naturally his dorsal fin couldn't be folded over in the back of his jumper. So after measuring twice and knitting once, I give you Dolphin-Seal and his very spunky jumper, a labour of love for my little ginger.



Dolphin-Seal and his new apparel have taken off to school today for news such is the impressiveness of the work. I am a little worried though. As happy as the Rohmeister was with the jumper, he now tells me that Dolphin-Seal needs pants!

What a day!

Sam and I trotted off to the Quliting and Craft Show at Jeff's Shed today and had a lovely day wandering the stalls buying things we didn't really need! We meet up with Susan, Tara and Susan's beuatiful daughter Nadi. We saw Suzie Q's gorgeous quilt (I think it should have won but I know very little about quilts) and saw many other beautiful quilts.

Finally, I found another way to waste my time! The minute I got home I had to whip out all the charms and "fixin's" that I bought and start immediately making stitch markers. Hope you like the products of my new little hobby!

Old gold Ballerinas

Old Gold Shoes

Silver Princess Crowns.

Silver Shoes

Silver Ballerinas

The Week the Rangas took over the World

My ranga met one of his favourite rangas!


Cameron Ling was very charming and was very impressed that a fellow Ginger carried his playing number. Rohan got his hat and jumper signed as well as two photos signed for his brothers. There are some past and present footballers who could well learn from Cameron, he was exceedingly gracious and nothing was too much trouble.

Jellybeans!

Cheerful even on the dullest day!

Some sneak previews of my new design....

Also coming in a straight unisex cardi as well. I am looking for a name and a few more test knitters (sizes 2-14). If you have any suggestions for a name pop on a comment. If you want to do a test knit drop me an email.

I would apologise....

but I really don't feel like it. I know it has been an age since I posted and don't think I haven't had notions of doing so. I really, truly have, however the notion never cemented into the reality and thus no posts. I guess I am a little bit sorry, but I am sure your lives are all travelling along just fine regardless.

I have finished some things since last we spoke...

Knit it down in Jo Sharp Silkroad Aran. I love this yarn and the result is a nice cozy, warm casual jumper. Just right for weekends with jeans.



And I finally succumbed to common sense and made a Central Park Hoodie using BWM rustic 12ply (just like Sam) in the Earth colourway. After procrastinating several weeks regarding the seaming (you know how much I love seaming), I love the final result. If it has any faults it might be a tad too warm at times!

And during the procrastination I made a new striped scarf to replace the one taken from the pub in which I left it and an aran weight shawl for the pink swap. I am finally free of the Jo Sharp Desert Aran that I hated so much! The scarf is made in balls of dodgy Spotlight yarn seeing as I just couldn't justify another Noro scarf. The result is nowhere near as nice as the original but it is a fair substitute.


The other news is that I am working on a new design. Teasers and details to come but I can tell you that it is a cabled coat/cardi/cropped cardi for boys or girls in 8ply.

Well I did take the camera...

We have just got back from a lovely, relaxing 5 days at Wymah Valley Resort on the "shores"* of Lake Hume, just the other side of Albury. It was in fact so relaxing that whilst I took the camera with us I didn't take a single photo.

You will need to believe me when I tell you that the kids had a great time swimming, riding their bikes, at the kid's club, going to the movies, Easter egg hunting, going to the petting farm and dozens of other things. You will also need to believe that I had a lovely time relaxing with my friends and doing a little knitting (and drinking and trivial pursuit).

This is what I have to show from my weekend. A Central Park Hoodie looking like it is on the way to done....


* I say "shores" because the lake is so depleted that the shore is actually about a kilometre from the resort at the moment. One day the drought will break. One day.