Moving

I am blogging more frequently over here. I hope I see you there :)

George

I have a friend who fell in love with the super-cuteness of Elijah the elephant. So for her birthday, I decided to knit one for her. I think he looks more like a George; What do you think?

2 balls of Spotlight Basics Merino
His eyes are really dark navy cashmere(!)
2.75mm needles

Embossed Leaves

I know it may seem as though I haven't knit one stitch for the past two months but I have, I swear! I've got long overdue FO photo to show you:

True love fiber Merino and Tencel, 1 skein.
2.75mm needles

These turned out a little big but I really like them still. I should invest in some 2.5mm dpns as the ones I knit with 2.25mm needles are too small and 2.75mm are too large.

The yarn was lovely. I have never thought of yarn being 'elegant' but I really think the shine that the tencel gives these socks is really pretty. They make me feel special :)

Sweet

16!

Yup, its my birthday.

I got a wee little rose charm for my pandora bracelet.......

.....and a flight to Melbourne to see this guy in concert.....

Ramblings and a Bainbridge Scarf

My drama moderation went well and it was really great to perform again. There are rumors however that the moderator was a rather harsh marker but I'm sure we all did fine. Our last performance was our strongest energy wise and the audience was really great. They seemed to understand the play a little more than previous audiences which helped lift the mood.

After Tuesday night, the moderation, I have been in somewhat of a post-drama slump. Its a bit of a combination of the disappointment of all of the performing finishing and also that I have picked up some nasty cold flu thing. Not very fun. Especially when it's mid-year exams this week!

Whilst in bed and when my brain hasn't been shrouded in brain fog I have picked up a couple mindless projects to use up the silly odd balls of yarn that are lurking in the plastic boxes underneath my bed. One of these projects is my Bainbridge Scarf:

Bainbridge Scarf by Pepperknit
Knit Picks Shine Sport in Cloud, just over 1 ball
3.75mm Denise circulars

I think its a darling little scarf. It's perfect to use up odd balls of yarn. I must say I loved working with shine as it is really soft and slinky. It's a pity you can't get it in Australia because I would love to knit a whole sweater using it (saying that, it's probably a good thing!)

Also semi-finished and waiting patiently for ends to be woven in are a pair of socks. hurrah! progress!

Oh! The Drama!

I know, I know. I haven't posted for like a month but I have a really good excuse. I have been doing a production for my 12 drama course and all of the rehearsals have pretty much taken over a lot of my spare time (which is probably a good thing!). The play we will be doing is a play by Tom Stoppard called The Real Inspector Hound (wikipedia link if you would like to read the plot) and I have been casted as Felicity Cunningham who I think is really awesome character. I get to be really bitchy (hehe). The script is hilarious!

Our first run in front of an audience is this Thursday (gasp!) with two performances Monday next week and a final performance on Tuesday which will be in front of a moderator who will grade us on our performances. The whole process is pretty stressful actually. There is a lot of things to get done and scenes to get polished off but I am happy to say that I have absolutely loved every minute of it, and we haven't even performed to an audience yet. I can't wait!

Madeleine scarf

If you are on Ravelry or flickr, the pictures have been on there for a week but now it's officially on the blog!

Pattern: My own, based on a scarf by Madeleine press.
Yarn: 9 skeins of Jaeger Extra Fine Merino Aran in Cypress.
Needles: 6.5mm needles for the blackberry stitch and cable panel and a enormous 4mm circular needle for the frill (which I made my connecting the three longest cables together in my Denise set)

Even though I am a knitter, I don't really own many scarves. They are rather expensive to buy if made out of good materials and I think they are really quite boring to knit but when I saw a scarf by Madeleine Press on Another Shopgirl I knew that I must knit it. The result, 9 balls of yarn later, is a really long and unique scarf that I adore.

It didn't really take that long for me to knit but I swear I nearly went mad knitting the frill part. I think it was about 350 sts in each row but it was totally worth it in the end.

Back with a Bang

I can't believe that It has nearly been a whole month since my last post! I've been a bit slack updating my blog but luckily it's school holidays so I have finally had the chance to relax a little and do some knitting.

I recently bought some double pointed needles so I have been able to finish lots of small projects that I have started over the past few months. One of these projects was a Koolhaas hat for my Pa because he had some surgery and needed something to cover his head. Here it is finished and modeled by my dad.

I also started sewing some clothes. I am still learning but I am able to do simpler projects without any help from my mum. I have found I can apply what I have learned about of knitwear structure so it isn't too hard trying to interpret the instructions. I have two projects I'd like to get finished these holidays and both are from the Built by Wendy collection from the Simplicity pattern range. I'll show you the finished product!

The Madeleine Press scarf has been photographed. I'll post the details (and pattern!) in my next post! I'll leave you with a sneak peek! Until next time!

Happy Easter

I hope you had a wonderful Easter weekend, however you chose to spend it!

A new project!

I bought some yarn! yay!

Jaeger Extra Fine Merino DK in Peacock and Smoke.

Becasue I absolutely loved the houndstooth pattern on J.D (which my bro has grown out of already) I decided to design my own jumper with houndstooth.



I will be knitting a basic hoodie with houndstooth pattern all over with kangaroo pockets, ribbed edges and i-cord edges. Wish me luck!



The Madeleine Press scarf ( a.k.a Maddy) is completed and is currently drying outside. I will take some pictures this weekend. It is my favorite scarf ever and it is just awesome. stay tuned!

On the knitting front.

My poor little blog has been neglected as of late. School work has had me quite busy these past couple of weeks. Luckily though, over the next three weeks I have 5 days off school due to all the public holidays and sports carnivals which I can't attend because I still don't have enough energy to participate.

Apart from all the school work, it has been a so great to come home (and after doing my homework and having dinner) and sit and knit. I have been working on a couple of accessories for the cold months ahead.

The Madeleine Press scarf is coming along nicely but the cable panel ate all of my yarn! All five balls! I have 4 more balls of Jaeger Extra Fine Merino Aran coming which should arrive on Friday so I will be able to complete the frill part.





I also started this cute cabled hat that was is inspired by the cute little hats ones decked out on all the Burberry models in their latest collection. I still need to knit the back brim.

Weardowney Knit Couture

I have heard mixed reviews about this book. Some think it it's good and some think it's not quite what they were looking for. It's not your ordinary pattern book. It contains essays and biographies of innovative fashion designers and how they shaped knitwear and a general history of the craft.

Personally, I like this book. But compared to their RTW collections, the patterns in the book don't have the same spark, however, I really like a couple of designs which I will be making as soon as I can.

Number One : The Skating Skirt

I already have the yarn! Some Katia Perla Has been sitting in my stash for a while just waiting for something right. It is perfect for it.

Number Two: Chevron Waffle Cardigan

I will splurge and buy some cashmere for this one in an amber/mustard colour.

I have also swatched for a scarf. I am 'drawing inspiration' from the Frill scarf by Madeleine Press . I will be knitting it in a natural brown colour. This swatch is using Cleckheaton Country 8ply/DK but it seems that it is quite a lot thicker than other 8 plys so will be using a worsted/10ply yarn instead. I hope it works!

Tilted Duster

Tilted Duster by Norah Gaughan from Interweave Fall 07
3 balls Bendigo Woollen Mills Rustic 12ply in Delta

This was a gift for my Mum for Christmas last year. Overall, It turned out to be a very nice fitting cardigan. Things went relatively smoothly until I nearly ran out of yarn. I realised that I would need to lengthen everything and forgot to buy enough to compensate. I was able to make the sleeves 5 cm longer but was forced I made the length according to the pattern becasue I had barely had enough to sew everything together. I just managed to get away with three balls of yarn. A wee bit shorter than I imagined, but it looks pretty good. Mum is pretty chuffed with it so I am happy too.

Meet Misty, My Beautiful Kitteh

some pink and purple

What a week! It was so busy. Moving house really takes it out of you!

My father bought a fancy new Nikon DSLR and I have been pottering around the garden looking for things to photograph.

I have also started knitting a cardigan from my own design. I will enlighten you with some more details later.

Hope you all are fresh and ready to get back to school!

P.S: Happy Australia Day!

Back To Reality

Sorry about the sudden, unexplained absence. I have been camping for the past week along the Great Ocean Road. It was absolutely stunning. Nothing like what I have seen before. Me and my family stayed in a camping site situated in the Otways National Park. It was perfect -literally across the road from a beauitful swimming beach, a lovely river just alongside the park and barely 5 minutes away from the nearest town, Lorne. I tried to capture some of the wonderful things we did and saw:

J.D.

At last I can show you! Presenting J.D:

My first design has been featured in this month's issue of Magknits. Thanks to Reece, my brother, for being my mannequin. You can see the pattern here.

I should explain the name of my design! As I wrote in the introduction of the pattern, I said I was inspired by the David Jones logo, always known by me as DJ's. Swap those two letters around, and you get J.D! Coincidentally, J.D is also the name of the main character of my favorite television show, Scrubs!

Happy New Year & New Years Resolutions

I'd just like to wish everyone passing by my blog a very Happy New Year and hope they have a excellent year to come

And my two knitting resolutions:

One was to redesign my blog, and if you have visited my little site before, you can see that I have been making a few changes already. It's something I have been cooking up these school holidays and it's taught me so much!

Secondly, I am also going to try and knit more of my own designs. I have a sketchbook full of potential deisgns waiting patiently to turn into finished garments.

What are your New Years Resolutions?

Etsy!

I only just recently discovered Etsy; the wonder sweeping the D.I.Y. world. Unfortunately, I now spend an illegal amount of time browsing the numerous sellers wares. It is like a giant, colourful, online, craft market and I love that.

I was lucky enough to recieve some beautiful handmade copper earrings from my brothers. They are from susanmariedesigns.

It's got me longing to open a store of my own!

Christmas Day

I hope you had an excellent Christmas. I sure did. An excellent day was had for all. Lots of laughter, food and presents.

Totally and utterly spolit.