Little Woollie Adventures #1 ( A video where we cut our knitting. Steeking fun for all!)

Hello everyone!   Just popping in here quickly to share this little video that we made at the shop last week.  Mel and Louisa who work with me at Little Woollie Makes, recently both knitted beautiful cardigans, the pattern is called Otra Cardigan by Skeindeer Knits. we thought it would be fun to share the steeking process, as cutting our knits can seem very daunting!   Steeking is a common way to create a cardigan when you are doing colour work knitting.  It means that you can knit your cardigan on circular needles, all in the one direction (so no purl rows and going backwards and forwards like on straight needles)  and you create a steeking seam that you can reinforce and cut once your garment is finished. Mel and Louisa also chat a bit about there yarn choices and knitting journey. 

I hope you enjoy this video, it was fun to make!

Here is a link to the video on our YouTube channel if you'd like to see what else we have been up to. I am trying to make more videos, so even though there is not a lot there at the moment,  there will be more coming! 

First sock of the year

 Hi there!  I hope everyone has had a good week, it's been super hot and muggy here, not like our normal dry heat in summer, the humidity really takes it out of you!  

I have mostly been working on small projects that are nice and portable, like the super cute Little Boxes Socks by Summer Lee Designs.  Her sock patterns are available on Ravelry and are great for colour play with colour work knitting and for using up small amounts of yarn like  Advent sets and mini skeins.  She has so many lovely designs, I want to make them all!

This is the first one completed, I have started the second one and hopefully I'll stay interested long enough to actually finish this pair! :)  I really like the after-thought heel that Summer does in this pattern (and lots of her other ones too)  it is so easy!  I do get tiny holes at the corner of the heel, but I will darn them closed when I weave in the yarn tails. 

I can't remember if I mentioned it in my last post, but I am joining in on a Year of Socks for 2022 too, so aiming for one pair a month.  These are the January ones, I have a feeling they might drag into February before they are finished, so I'm already a bit behind.  lol, I tend to plan too big and run out of steam, but this is a bit early in the year to give up completely!   I have some other gorgeous colour combinations picked out, so that should keep me motivated. :)  On the positive side, I have already started my second Hexie for the Persian Dreams Blanket, so I'm ahead of schedule with that one! 

I have some crochet on the go too, just some spotty facewashers, I'll show you those at a later date. 

(I'm finding it a challenge to get back in the swing of taking photos for posts during the day and loading them onto the computer, I think Instagram has made me slack, the quickness of posting on there is quite an addictive thing.  I'll need to find some discipline to get back in the habit of planning posts and getting the right photos for them!)

Ok, better go now and get dinner ready, it's my son Jesse's birthday today.  I'm feeling the time flying by, I feel too young to have a 26 year old son, but it has happened!   So it's a birthday celebration tonight, maybe a nice cold glass of champagne is called for! 

Talk soon! xxxxxxxxxxx

hello, it's been a while! I've been knitting houses :)

Hello!  It's been a while since I've blown the cobwebs off my poor neglected blog, but I didn't realise it has been quite so long since the last post!!  Where has that time gone!  I am going to try (again) to get back in the habit of blogging, it is such a nice way to record what I've been making and other stuff.

So in that spirit, here's some little houses I have been having fun making recently. They are quite small, so will make good brooches or woolly pins for project bags, or very cute hanging decorations for the Christmas tree.

The lovely knitting pattern is by Julia Marsh at Hand Knitted Things , she has other cute house patterns too!

I made a couple of mods to the pattern to get the size I wanted, and I think it has worked well!

I used 2 strands of different 4plys to give a marled effect and get to the 8ply for the pattern, the yarns are mostly Jamieson Shetland wool.  I love the rustic nature of this wool, and there are heaps of colours to play with, so it's ticking all the boxes for this project!

These are destined for my Yarn Advent Boxes that I'm sending out in November, I've promised to include a few cute little extras and this is the first one I've made, they are kind of a surprise, but I doubt many people will read this far!

They have all their tails stuffed inside making them a little bit puffy. :)

So much fun playing with colour combos, and I really enjoyed embroidering the doors and windows!  

I have plenty of other things I need to share on here, so lets hope I get the blogging habit back and it becomes a regular part of my life again! 

Have a lovely day everyone, thanks for reading, it's been great to get posting again!

Around here......

1. This is what I was working on today, a heart washer and mini flowers for wool shop orders.  I'm trying to build up my stash of washers to get a head start on market stock for the up coming market season.  This year is going so quickly, it will be market time of year again before I know it!! 

2. The wooly blankets are getting a work out on these very chilly days we have been having, it's nice to see them being used and keeping my boys cosy on the couch. :) 

3. I bought my first bunches of daffs this week!  So good to know that Spring is not too far away, there are lots of signs of life in my garden at the moment, bulbs are springing up all over the place and I am hopeful of a big colourful garden in a few months time.  I've planted heaps of baby poppies that I hope will survive the rest of winter and then go mad flowering in Spring! 

4. My niece had a birthday! Such a great happy smile!  :) 

5. After many reminders, I made Max a beanie for the cold weather.  He likes it even though it is a little on the large side!  I found a nice simple pattern for a standard beanie, knitted on 2 needles and then sewn up the back, it was good to get my knitting mojo back, crochet has definitely become my first love!  I am not a really confident knitter, so this pattern was great ! 

6. I am still working on my Sunburst granny blanket, it is nearly finished, just the edge to go.  I have kind of lost interest in it a bit if I am honest, it feels like I have mentally finished with it a little bit before I have actually done the work to finish it off!   This is the week to get it all completed! 

How have things been in your world? 

xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Crafty heart(s)

Hello!  I'd like to thank you all for the lovely comments on  my last post with the blue/green harlequin blanket, it really is so nice being part of this bloggy world, even if Facebook and Twitter and Instagram have moved in and changed things up a bit, blogging is still the way I like to communicate best and is still my first love!  I fear my stint at responding to each comment on my blog didn't last long, sorry about that,  I will keep trying to improve on this side of things, and to comment more on all your lovely blogs too, I am trying to fight my reclusive tendencies and get interacting!

I thought these little knitted hearts were kind of appropriate for sharing the love back to everyone who reads this blog, aren't they kind of cute?

When we were in the city last weekend I visited one of my favourite book shops and bought a couple of new crafty books, one of them was 'The Ultimate Book Of Baby Knits" by Debbie Bliss, and these little hearts were one of the patterns in it.  ( lots of lovely patterns in this book!) 

 They are supposed to become parts of a mobile, but I am planning to make quite a few of them and make a dangly heart garland thingy for my bedroom wall.

I have a picture in my head, so we will see if it turns out how I imagine.

I love how I can practice my very basic fairisle skills on these little hearts.  There is also a pattern for some gorgeous fairisle hangers that I am working up to having a go at.  They are really pretty!

It was nice to pick up the knitting needles for a change, I am quite inspired to knit at the moment, it is really cold here and the fire is going, and knitting just finishes off the picture of cosiness. 

I think a tiny knitted heart with little spots of colour would be pretty cute 

for a homespun brooch, don't you?  Just have to find my tiny knitting needles....maybe 2mm? 

Anyway, I'd better go and help with the dishes, talk soon!  

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

weekly stills....

weekly stills:

1. Tomatoes and basil, the tastes of summer linger on. Yum.

2. Harlequin blanket has stalled at the final stage, just got to get the edge finished off.

3+4. New woolly love to grab my crafty attention, got the needles out for this one.  

So much beautiful colour play in this yarn!

( it's Malabrigo - Rios if you are wondering)

5. A pile of books to dip into in spare time.

6. I bought this big bag of baby pea shoots the other day and have been having a big handful in a wrap with salmon for lunch, it's really delish!

How was your week?

Joining up with the other weekly stillers over at Emily's place here.

Knitting Skinny Scarves.......

Hello.  How's your day going? It has turned windy here and is currently blowing a gale, so it's nice to inside and doing a bit of housey stuff instead of the garden today.  

I have been doing a bit of knitting over the last few weeks, I made a few scarves for my stall, and I have to say it was fun getting out the knitting needles for a change!  

This is my go-to scarf pattern, I really like how it is chunky and a bit skinny too, and it is really springy and soft because of the ribbed pattern.  It also knits up very quickly on big needles!  What do you think of the ruffled edge? Do you prefer a straight edge or something a bit different?

I made these out of some of the wool I bought at the sale at Lincraft, the minty green and grey are a Lincraft brand called Luxe, and it is nice and chunky and very cosy.  It was a bit annoying to use as it had joins in it so I had to make sure I didn't end up with a knot in the middle of a row. 

 But aside from that it was quite nice to use.

 ( My lovely mum sewed all the ends in for me while we sat at the market, thanks mum!) 

 The pale pink was also  Lincraft wool called Merrijig, it is a 10ply wool, so I used 2 threads together to get a chunky weight.  The acid green was a Cleckheaton Country Aran 10ply (a really soft and cosy wool) and I doubled this up too to get a chunkier weight.  I think that one is my favourite, it is extra soft, light and warm and I really like the colour.

They are not overly long scarves, you can wear them doubled up like this to keep the ends out of your way...........

...........or just wrapped around like a normal scarf.......

The pattern is called Misti Chunky Ribs and Ruffles Scarf , by Nancy Kleiber and I highly recommend it!

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I'm hoping to get stuck into my garden this weekend, I want to make a cutting garden so I can pick posies for the house in Springtime, I have a heap of bulbs to plant too, and some flower seeds I sowed in the hot house have germinated so I want to get them moving on before they die! Not to mention the vegie seedlings that are waiting to go in the ground, must get onto that!

We are also having a bonfire night at my parents place tomorrow ( if this wind dies down!) which will be fun, I've bought marshmallows in preparation!  My dad goes in for a hip replacement on Monday, so I think he wants to get rid of all the garden waste, prunings and what not, before he is out of action for a few months recuperating and getting used to his new hip.

Anyway, that's about it for now, what are you up to this weekend? 

Busy busy or cruisey?

Yarn Along and a bit of babble.....

Hello!

I am joining in with Ginny's Yarn Along today, and am still hooking away at the Cutie Patootie Pants.  

I am not sure if stripes were the best thing to do for these pants, as I didn't realise the pattern changed stitch widths within the rows, so my stripes are going to be thicker on the backside than the front.  

Oh well, I will see how they turn out anyway.

It was my birthday last week and I received a couple of lovely books, one of which was this one, 

'Whole Larder Love' by Rohan Anderson.  

(I seem to be reading a lot of non fiction, practical type books at the moment, ones you can dip in and out of as you like)

This cookbook is full of gorgeous photos and lovely little snippets of story telling about his food love affair.  I am not sure if I will actually cook a lot of the recipes, they are quite adventurous for a house of fussy, plain eaters, but I love where he is coming from with the food he makes.  

I am passionate about growing as much food in our garden as we can, and just love knowing I have been able to provide parts of our meals from outside the backdoor.  

We are a long way from self sufficient, (and am happy to support our local farmers for things that are beyond our capabilities), but I think there is so much satisfaction and sense of 'worthwhileness' in food gardening, I really don't know why everyone doesn't give it a go!!  It makes me really happy!

But I digress, back to the book, there are a lot of recipes for wild game 

(rabbit, hare, venison, duck, yabbies)

which is something I don't cook (or hunt, for that matter), but you never know, maybe if I'm feeling a little wild I might give the duck risotto a crack!  

Speaking of books, I have gone a little crazy recently on Book Depository, and seem to have parcels arriving every few days with lovely, interesting books for me to pour over, so I thought I might do a 'book sharing' post one day a week till I have shown you what I have bought.  

Trust me, there is a lot of lovely, colourful, inspiring, booky goodness coming your way! 

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Well, it has been a rather emotional, draining and long couple of weeks around here, but we got through the funeral and gave Jack a send off I think he would have loved. 

 Some positive things come from such a stressful time too, the strong bonds of family and friends, and a deeper appreciation of how lucky we are to have one and other,  and the great lives we are actually living right now. 

I'll be stopping to smell the roses of life and giving thanks for just being here in this moment, in this family, in this place.  It is a lucky feeling.   

I was feeling a bit nihilistic, the other day, you know, 'what's the point to doing anything, nothing really matters in the big picture, our lives are so fleeting, why bother with anything, there is no meaning to doing anything....'  that kind of depressing thinking.  Not like me at all.

I lost my purpose briefly, and so now I am trying to make sure I focus on the good, lucky life I have, and that the purpose of life is to actually get out there and live it, see where it takes you and make the most of each new day. I am sure that is what Jack and my grandpa would want. (my grandpa died on the morning of Jack's funeral, how's that for timing!) Lucky for me Gary is a very positive husband and keeps reaffirming all the good things we have got going for us.

Ok, getting a bit deep (morbid) there, time to finish up I think!  Sorry about that little tangent, I don't usually write about this sort of thing, but it's kind of how I am feeling at the minute, I am sure I will be back to my happy self shortly, I am going to crochet my way to happier days!

Oh, and thank you all for the fantastic response you gave my Christmas decorations, you are all so nice and supportive in this crafty bloggy community.

And yes, I will put together a tutorial on how I made them so you can all have a go at a bit of

 Crochet Christmas Cheer. Keep an eye out for it soon.

Um.... I think that's all for tonight, 

see yay later!

Yarn Along

I am joining in with Yarn Along today, so here is my current knitting,  the hexagon blanket.  I didn't get very far last night, still getting confused with the 4 needles, it is not coming naturally yet, but I will persevere and hopefully I will get in a rhythm.  

I am reading The Resilient Gardener by Carol Deppe which is an interesting book about food gardening for times of uncertainty.  Lots about seed saving and how to produce staples and get the most from your garden.  Carol is a very knowledgeable gardener and a scientist,  and her opinions make a really good read.  It is American based, but I think there is a lot  can take from her experiences and adapt to my gardening.  Yes, lots to mull over with this book.

What are you making and reading?

New knitty love.....

Hello.

Last night I started a new little project that I came across while doing a bit of blog browsing.  It's a hexagon blanket, and I am smitten!  

Firstly I came across the lovely blog Thornton and her hexie blankie really caught my eye, and following the linking trail, I found the pattern on Ravelry, and 10 minutes later it was downloaded  and printed ready for me to try! 

Gotta love the internet!!

Have a look at Bobby's Garden, a pattern by Megan Rogers, it's really lovely and I can see a nice big knitty, patchworky blanket somewhere (a long way off) in my future!

So this is my first hexagon.  I was hoping to do a few more last night, but I forgot how tedious challenging I find it using double pointed needles, so there where a couple of false starts while I ironed out a few teething problems.  But I got there in the end, and tonight I am ready to add 1 or 2 if I am lucky onto this first one.  

It is supposed to be done in Noro (totally gorgeous by the way), but I am using sock yarn, as the only double pointed needles I had are that size, so my blanket is going to be much smaller than the pattern says, but that's ok.  I have a heap of 3ply soft baby merino that I think will work ok for it too, so hopefully this will be a stash busting blanket too, bonus!

Ok, better go and get clicky clacking,  the stripey blanket can have a rest tonight I think, I have new shiny things to play with!

Have a great day.

Crafty Christmas Star(t)s.....

Hello!

Well, It's October now and that means it's the perfect time to start thinking about Christmas in terms of hand made presents and decorations.  It's not too early and not too last minute, yep, the perfect time!

I do love Christmas time, it gives the crafty inclined a good excuse to make stuff. 

 It's so nice to have a purpose when crafting, don't you think?  I do enjoy pointless crafty action for it's own sake too, but I really like a reason to craft it up as well!

So with that in mind I found the knitted stars I made last year (way too last minute to make it onto the tree), and am determined to get them finished properly (sorry if you've seen them before on my blog) and make a heap more to give to my family as little Pre-Christmas pressies for their trees.  

I am still looking for the pattern I used, it's on the internet somewhere, I'll try and find it before I end this post. 

(here is the link to the Dutch Sisters pattern)

One of the things I liked about these stars is that they only take tiny amounts of wool, so I can use up all the scraps from my blankets and other makes.

I think some made from these lovely Christmassy colours would be great, I only have little bits left of this Pear Tree super soft merino yarn and I think some little stars would be a fittingly gorgeous way to use it up.

Then I have this lot to tackle!  I am thinking some mini ones using 4ply and smaller needles would be a nice contrast, and then I could thread them together and make a starry  garlandy thing.... so many possibilities !  Maybe a mobile, or a starry wall hanging........

So are you thinking about Christmas too?

Do you make things for presents? 

Or is it still too early for you?

I'd like to do a hand made Christmas this year, but I don't think I could come up with presents for my brothers in law ( or at least anything they would want!), so maybe I'll make things for the people I think would like it and leave the others with bought stuff.

So with good intentions I am going to start my Christmas crafting! Yay!

Let me know what you are making, I'd love to see!

Ok, that's it for now, have a great day!

Yarn along.....

Today I am joining in with Ginny at Small things for her yarn along linky thing where you show what you are working on at the moment and what you are reading...........

I dragged out my magic square blanket the other day and decided it was time to add a few more squares to it.  It is definitely a slow moving project this one, but it is nice to pick it up every now and again and knit up a few more colours.  I have a couple of nice multicoloured balls of wool that I want to add next, so I hope the enthusiasm lasts long enough to get that done.

I am reading 'A Dance With Dragons' by George R. R. Martin,  it is Book 5 of 'A Song of Ice and Fire' series, and I am really enjoying this epic tale.  So much more engrossing than the TV series (which is still a good show),  there is just so much going on in this story, it sucked me right into all the intrigue and power plays, it is hard to put down.  I think he is writing another episode after this one, which would be great, there are still so many story threads to explore.

I've also been looking at 'Gardener Cook' by Christopher Lloyd, that great garden writer (and grower!).

I am feeling very inspired at the moment to get stuck into my garden and just grow everything I can! 

I am hoping this Spring/Summer will be our most productive and beautiful garden since we have been here.  I am feeling like my knowledge and skills are finally at a level where I can actually get the garden growing how I want, and it will hopefully look a little like I imagine! ( A gorgeous abundant oasis of growing things!)

So anyway, have a great day, and happy yarning along1

my creative space...turn a square hat

Hello.

So today I have finished knitting my new beanie!  I think this might become my favourite hat pattern!

The pattern I used is  Turn a Square by Jared Flood  and I really enjoyed making this little hat.  It has been quite chilly round here recently so I should get a bit of wear out of it soon. 

It is made with a solid colour for the main colour and a self striping yarn for the other stripe.  I used a nice charcoal and some left over Noro Silk Garden for the colourful  stripe.  The crown is a great squarish shape due to the way the decreases are done, and pretty easy to knit even though I don't have a lot of experience knitting in the round.  I think I could make a few more of these is other colour ways.

Hope you are having a creative day too!

Joining in over here.

Long weekending.....

the freshly weeded, composted, planted and mulched long garden bed! Yay!

hello everyone!

Thank you so much for all your lovely comments regarding my last post with the stripey bobble cushion, you are all so kind!  I love sharing my crafty makes with you all, and I am glad if you can take a bit of crafty inspiration from them!  I am trying to write up a bit of a pattern for the cushion, so we will see how it goes and I'll pop it up here at some stage.

little baby plants of tuscan kale 

We have had a long weekend here, my boys have been home for 5 days, so it's been a nice break from our usual routine, here's a bit of what went on round here........quite a bit of gardening......

.......bought some little plants to fill out the herb garden......

.....played with the camera.....

....foggy cold mornings, beautiful and still , the fog hung around most of the day.......I thought it made the garden look quite fairytale-like.....

....cobwebs were revealed everywhere, .....

...even all over the salvias and jonquils, so very fine......

....the sun eventually came out late in the day, I love late afternoon light, it was a gorgeous day.

I got a bit of knitting done too.  Finished off my first piece of double knitting, this side is red with pink pattern and the other side is pink with red pattern.  So glad to finish this, it was a real brain strain!  I really had to concentrate and do lots of counting to make sure I didn't stuff up the pattern ( which i did in 2 spots, but I couldn't bear to start again so have just left them there).  It was slow going, but I actually feel quite satisfied mastering a new technique, even if I don't plan on doing it again any time soon!

The rest of the weekend was spent working a few hours at my new job, shopping for some bargain wool, (photos to come ), Gary ferryed the boys to a music festival in Collingwood and had some father/son time with the younger two, and we shared a very pleasant Sunday afternoon at a friends place with great food, drink and company. Fun, Fun, Fun!  What more could I ask for?  Life is sweet!

Hope you all had a good one too!

Sock begins......

Hello.

       Well, my creative space today is all about my first attempt at knitting socks.                

Yes, I am edging closer to the granny side with every day! hahaha..... 

I am finding it slow going at the moment, but I'm sure I'll get the hang of it  eventually.

Don't you love this wool! I do!

We went for a lovely drive in the country yesterday when Gary had a day off, and I went to a great yarn shop in Kyneton and I picked up these cute little knitting needles just right for socks.  

I think I could get quite addicted to making socks, so many beautiful self striping yarns out there!

Joining in over here today at Our Creative Space.