Mother's Day Mitts

I missed Oma's birthday this year, so now that I have plenty of time I made her these for Mother's Day.  Hopefully they will keep her hands warm and her fingers free to do her Sudoku in the mornings.

The pattern is called Mitt Envy, free from Ravelry. I didn't quite manage to memorise the cable repeats, but it was still a fun and quick knit.

Up the duff knits

Just because I haven't posted here in a year doesn't mean I haven't been knitting!  

With baby due in 4 weeks I have had an excellent excuse for knitting small projects for little ones.

I've joined Ravelry.com and love it, it's great for finding patterns and project ideas, and for seeing what yarn will look like knitted up.  I've posted a couple of projects there, as leenbeanknits (with 3 million users it's tricky coming up with a unique username).

My first attempt at a garment (not including beanies and socks) was this 'Pebble Vest', made with the gorgeous yarn Debbie Bliss Luxury Aran Tweed - thanks Karla! It was knit flat on straight needles as one piece, with only one seam to sew on the shoulder- easy peasy!

The pattern is from Nikol Lohr, and is on Ravelry at http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/pebble-henrys-manly-cobblestone-inspired-baby-vest
We don't know if it's a boy or a girl yet, but who says blue is only for boys? This is such a pretty yarn, I had to make something cute with it. And there's still one skein left which I have plans for.
  
Then I made with this little beanie, inspired by Willow's strawberry beanie which looked so adorable on her as a baby. This is the blueberry version, using yarn I had in my stash from my birthday crafternoon.   I found the pattern on Ravelry http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/berry-baby-hat thanks to Michele Sabatier.



I still had yarn leftover so I made Georgie Hallam's 'Milo' vest, also from Ravelry http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/milo-3

It was so easy and knit in the round so no boring seams to knit together at the end (my favourite kind of project). I haven't blocked it yet, don't know if I will bother.

 

 

I also received some beautiful hand-spun yarn from my workmate Caris at Christmas. She spun it herself, from a mix of silk and wool.So on another workmate's suggestion (thanks Jackie) I made a baby blanket. Mum helped knit a few squares, and I had just enough yarn to finish it off with the bobble edging.  I love the result, especially the rustic colours.

Birdie num num

This little bluebird lives in our apple tree. 

She's been out there since my crafternoon party. I think she likes the shade. 

I've had to rescue her from the jaws of Albert a few times, but she didn't seem too fazed.

I've also finished my cowl, using the beautiful midnight purple bamboo/wool yarn with silver flecks from Mum. Was tricky trying to take a photo as the camera didn't like the reflectiveness of the yarn, but I did my best.  Here it is.

It feels so soft and lightweight, perfect for around the neck!

I see red

A couple of my favourite reds for the lead-up to the silly season.

We planted this kangaroo paw this year and it's flowering for the first time in spectacular tall stalks with furry-looking flowers on the ends. They open up one by one, and each afternoon a striped honeyeater visits, clinging on to the stalk and poking its beak down the newly opened flowers. The stalks have started to bend right over from its weight but none have broken....yet.


I can see why this was chosen as the floral emblem of Western Australia, as it looks stunning with very little effort.

And today I finished one of my red cable socks.

At this rate the pair will be done in time for winter next year.. I had a bit of a crisis after I turned the heel, because I tried it on and it felt too small. So then I put it aside and tried not to think about how I should've probably done a tension square first.   Luckily I couldn't bring myself to unravel it, so I kept going and now it fits fine, and I love it!

Knitting update

I had some organic cotton yarn for summer knitting tucked in my stash for about a year, and I finally found a use for it - knitted washcloths.  They're small enough to finish before I get bored and they're a fun way to try out new patterns.  Here's my 'ears of wheat' washcloth, with a moss stitch one underneath.

I've been making stacks of them!

Birthday Boy

Craig turned 33 on Thursday, so we had a few celebrations.  We went to Adriana and Juan's place last night for pictionary and nachos, followed by chocolate cake with racing car candles. 

Lula in the wild

This is Craig's latest creation. She is made out of corrugated iron sheeting and the plan is to stand her up in front of the fence with a light behind her.  Water will run down a sheet of perspex behind her. 

Custom made designs are availble to members of the family for $150 plus p & h.  Please supply design blueprints upon ordering.  Payment can be made by PayPal or credit card.