General – Page 4 – Knitting Box

Just pretty pictures

Knitting has been slow going here. Here and there cables scarf is growing a little longer, and the swing coat is growing a little more, but they still look the same. I’m dying to start a sock with the STR, or maybe something from the Victorian Lace Today, but I keep thinking that I should make more progress on the current WIPs first. I don’t know how long this will last, though. So in the mean time, how about I distract you with some pretty pictures instead?

Got these on a recent trip to Spotlight. The yarn is called ‘Dashing’, which makes me chuckle. They must be new, as I had never seen them before. For a cheapo yarn it’s surprisingly soft, although the colour range is not that great. This one is pastel green. It also comes in pastel blue, pastel pink, and peach.

I’m also in the middle of making this baby hat for a friend who just had a baby boy. I’m going to see her next week, so this one is taking priority. I’m not using any pattern, just making it up as I go. I actually started with a pattern, and got up to the crown decreases, before I had to admit that it would be far too big for a newborn baby. I really do have a bad denial problem. So off to the frog pond it went. Anyway, this one looks ok for size now. I’m using Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino for this one. Mmm… Cashmerino…

There have been some sewing as well. Here’s a peek on what I’m working on 🙂

And another eye candy: A new fabric line to gawk at, Chocolate Lollipop by Anna Maria Horner.

23 February 2007

Holiday crafting

I’m back! Well, I didn’t actually go anywhere, I’m still here, just relaxing and enjoying time with the family. Hubby is taking some time off work, and it’s been good having him around. We’re not traveling anywhere though, most of the time is spent at home, although we’re also trying to do the be a tourist in your own city thing. So far we’ve taken Annette to see the Sydney Opera House and the Coathanger (a.k.a. the Sydney Harbour Bridge). Very touristy.

And there have been some crafting too. First, I finished these hats for my nephews before Christmas.

On the left, is a Cupcake Hat for my 8 month old nephew.
Pattern: Cupcake Hat
Yarn: A mix of woolen yarns

On the right, is for my almost 3 year old nephew.
Pattern: My own fair isle pattern, and following the basic hat recipe from Knitting Rules!
Yarn: Cleckheaton Country Silk in white and green

And here’s a summer dress I made for Annette.

The material is from a ladies skirt that I found at the local op shop. The pattern is my adaptation of Burda 3026. It’s an ‘adaptation’ because the original pattern has a hem ruffle (click the link to see what I mean), but I decided to raise the ruffle to make a high waist instead. This is the first sewn garment that I’ve ever made, and I’m very pleased with it! 🙂

After making this dress, it became clear to me that I need to get a proper sewing book. One that’s a good how-to book, and tells me what things are — so that I don’t have to keep referring to “that gathered bit” or “that thingy over there” etc. At the moment I’m thinking Sew U would be a good candidate for clothes making, judging by Amy at Angry Chicken‘s review. (Gosh, as I was writing this, I discovered that Amy had just announced her new book! It looks great and probably just what I need…) But that aside, does anyone have any good sewing how-to books to recommend? Ones that you’ve found useful?

In other news, I have also joined Project Spectrum 2.0, finished the Endpaper Mitts (sneak peek on the Opera House pic above 🙂 ), and started the Pomatomus socks. Pictures soon!

9 January 2007

O Christmas Tree

There were plenty of things I would have liked to do for Christmas. I had visions of yo-yo or pompom garlands, a Christmas wreath, handmade cards, criss-cross coasters, Korknisse people (how adorable are these — unfortunately I couldn’t find any corks, I think I need to drink more wine), a forest of soft trees, and even this tiny little village, but they were not to be. Ah well, that’s okay. Christmas is meant to be fun and enjoyable, not stressful, and there’s more to Christmas. But here’s an early new year’s resolution: I shall not consider October too early to start making things for Christmas!

I did however manage to make one soft tree, the Christmas tree you see in the picture. I made it out of some el cheapo towel and Annette decorated it with star-shaped foam stickers. After I made it I realised that I could make a “nativity scene” out of Annette’s farm animals set. 🙂

I just want to say that I have really enjoyed having this blog this year. I’ve met many many wonderful people through blogging and made new friends, and I thank all of you for that. Thank you for reading, and thank you for all your comments too, I love reading every single one of them.

Merry Christmas to you and yours, have a good holiday, and see you again the new year!

21 December 2006

Good and Bad

Bad:

This is the state of the Jess cardi that I’ve been making for Mum. It looks pretty good, really. But it’s a disaster. The pattern itself is great and well written — can’t find fault with it. The only cause for the disaster was that I was being stupid when doing the yarn substitution. I can’t get the recommended yarn (Elle Pure New Wool) anymore, so I substituted with a cotton yarn! Oh, and did I mention this pattern is worked with 2 strands of yarn held together? The result: An overly thick, heavy, and stiff cardigan. Well, it’s not quite stiff, it’s still drapey, but it’s not comfortable to wear. Gah! I should’ve paid more attention to the warning signs when I hesitated about the yarn in the beginning. Guess I had been in Denial. So I’ll be making something else for Mum, don’t know yet what.

Good:

It’s my version of the Shifting Sands scarf by Grumperina. Belinda gifted me with a very lovely skein of Malabrigo yarn on our first meet up. It is sooo nice and soft that I had been waiting for just the right pattern to use it with. Then inspired by this, I thought this scarf would be it.

I made the scarf narrower than in the pattern, as I like my scarves not too thick (that and the fact that I only had 1 skein, so I wanted to make it as long as possible). I only casted on 22 stitches (instead of 52), and just kept knitting until I run out of yarn. I only used 1 skein, which gave me about 150 cm (60 inches), not including the fringes. I love, love, love this scarf. I love the colour too, definitely the brightest thing I have ever worn.

Project Details:

Pattern: Shifting Sands scarf by Grumperina, with mods above
Yarn: Malabrigo worsted, 1 skein
Needles: 5.5mm straights

18 December 2006

Four Things

Belinda tagged me for this meme. It’s been doing the rounds a while back, but I haven’t done it yet. So here we go!

Four Jobs Iâ€™ve Had:
– paper girl (I was one of those ppl giving out the City Weekly magazines in the city)
– typist
– website designer
– domestic engineer (a.k.a. housewife and mum 🙂 )

Four Movies I Could Watch Over & Over:
– Monsters Inc (I actually do watch this over and over since it’s Annette’s favourite at the moment)
– Lord of the Rings (all of them — yeah I know… that’s three movies)
– The Sound of Music
– Zoolander

Four Places I Have Lived (Apart From Where I am Now):
– Jakarta, Indonesia
– Sydney, AU (well I’ve been here for the past 12 years, but I had lived in 5 different suburbs)

Four TV Shows I Love:
– House
– Lost
– Desperate Housewives
– PlaySchool

Four Places I Have Been For a Vacation:
– Singapore, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea
– Indonesia — Bali, Java, Sumatra
– Australia — Melbourne, Brisbane, Gold Coast, Blue Mountains
Unfortunately most of these were when I was a child traveling with my parents, so I don’t remember much about them. On my own, the farthest (from Sydney) I had been was Melbourne… My favourite place for a vacation is actually the Blue Mountains. I love mountains area.

Four Websites I Visit Daily:
– Bloglines
– Gmail
– Flickr
– Sydney Morning Herald

Four Favourite Foods:
– Pad Thai noodles
– Anything with smoked salmon, yum!
– Quiche lorraine
– Chocolate, of course

Four Places I Would Rather Be:
– In a restaurant, where other people cook for me
– In a comfy chair with a cuppa and my knitting, and no housework
– Book shop
– Traveling somewhere I haven’t been, because I love exploring — Tasmania, Europe, the States, etc, etc, etc
I often say to hubby that I’d like to live somewhere cold, where my knitted stuff would get more wear, and where he wouldn’t say to me, “A scarf, AGAIN???” and beg me to knit him a scarf instead. Ha!

Four People Iâ€™m Tagging:
If you haven’t done this yet and would like to, go for it, I’d love to know more about you. Consider yourself tagged!

7 December 2006