Yarn Guerillas vs Garden Guerillas

Monday morning bright and early saw my fellow cohorts & I sneaking into a Guerilla garden & yarnbombing it.

We had a ball sneaking around this cute little veggie garden and "adding" our various bits and pieces.

The photos come courtesy of my beautiful daughter.  She's visiting for Christmas & had a ball running around with my camera.  She also made some fruit, veg & flowers from felt to plant.  Thanks sweetie!

Bouncing frog on elastic

We hope they have as much fun finding them as we did yarnbombing them!

NEXT!!!

Ok, flower jag is officially over.  I'm pretty sick of making these now, but they filled a gap and will come in useful for our next yarnbombing effort.

18 flowers stuck on bamboo skewers wrapped with yarn.
What else goes in a garden?  Hmmm ... maybe a not-so-welcome visitor.  Python anyone?  Hee hee hee!!

Eric the (half-a) bee

How cute is this little guy?

I originally was making him for our next yarnbombing effort, but he took rather a long time to make and is just soooo adorable I don't think I want to give him up.  My initial thought was to make a bunch of these with different coloured stripes, but it's rather a lot of work for something only 10 cm long.

My plans shall have to be rethunk.  Maybe flowers on a pipecleaner?

(Please forgive my Monty Python reference - Eric earned his name when he was half done.  I couldn't resist!)

Yay! It's a FO!!

Hooray! I now have one less UFO. (Does that mean I get to start another one? Lol!)

This is an absolute cutie:

I just adore the little peas in their pods, the little stems on the pods, the tendrilly curls on the tip of the hood!!

Hmmm ... Blogger seems to want to flip this one sideways. Oh well.
I used 3 heart shaped shell buttons, with crochet loops. (Thanks Miss D for your advice, it really was much easier than the instructions made out!)

The only part I didn't really enjoy was sewing all the picot edging down. It has picots on every edge which adds to the cuteness factor, but I was soooo glad when it was all done.
Gorgeous pattern too - knitted all in one piece. Just a few stitches to graft at the shoulders & that was it. The top of the hood was done using a 3 needle bind off.
Love love love it!!!

Startitis

I seem to be suffering from a bout of startitis.  Normally I have two, three or sometimes even four projects on the go so I can chop & change between projects as the mood takes me.  A travelling sock, a blanket I started nearly two years ago & maybe a cardigan or shawl.

I had a bit of a rude shock this week when I had to do the obligatory tidy-up for a routine rental inspection.  Let's get the lounge chair-side projects tidied up so we don't freak out the real estate person too badly ... lol!!

Can you guess how many projects were hiding in there?  Not four.  Not six.  Try doubling it.  That's right - TWELVE!!  Oh my goodness!  What happened?!

This new addiction hasn't helped:

Mitred Crosses.  Spotty has a new yummy yarn which is 25% silk 75% wool with scrummy long colour changes like Noro.  I'm bordering it with some purple Bendi 8ply & I think I'm in love.  It's ALL garter stitch which I thought would be brain meltingly boring, but I'm hooked.  I should be finishing off some of my UFO's (including a baby cardi that I really want done in the next couple of weeks) but I'm utterly helpless to the charms of the Mitred Crosses.  I'm seriously considering buying some more so I can make another blanket in a different colourway.  (Just what I need on the approach to what is promised to be a pretty revoltingly hot & sticky summer - a third blanket project!)

Just one more square ...

Wooly outing

Today my lovely friend Miss D & I represented the Lismore Spinners & Weavers in a demonstration & display of all things fibrey. Is that a word? If not, I declare it one now. (In my special little world anyway!)

The Cape Byron Rudolph Steiner School was having it's annual spring fair & we were invited to go along too.

They made us a sign!

We had a wonderful spot under a lovely big leafy tree, so we had shade all day. The weather was gorgeous - not a cloud in the sky.

It was just the two of us, which is all we thought we needed. Wrong! The place was PACKED! So between demonstrating spinning (I LOVE demonstrating spinning!), giving some free newbie spinning lessons (thanks Miss D!) and explaining what we had on display (shawls, hats, skeins, unusual fibres, crocheted garlands, felt) we were pretty much run off our feet.

Oh - and the box with the L plate? We made up some loo roll & paddle pop stick knitting nancys. I thought it'd be a cute idea, & it's something I've done before with the Victorian Spinners Guild with great results. Not so here unfortunately. Although they were free to anyone who wanted to learn, we didn't have many takers. Ah well, live & learn.

Oh - again? The wheel that bit me is the one in the front. It proved to be somewhat unco-operative. Maybe it's turned evil because it's tasted human blood ...

Baby things

Finally my finger feels good enough to knit. Yay!
So I celebrated by whipping up this little cutie:

It's called Milo & it's constructed using one of my new favorite methods. Top down, in the round, & NO SEAMS!! Just darn in your beginning end, & your finishing end & you're done! Gotta love that. Although I didn't have time to block it nicely before it had to be given away.

I'm now working on another baby thing, this time Sweet Pea. It seems to be taking forever to get anywhere, so I hope I can finish it before bubby arrives. I think I've still got about 10 weeks up my sleeve, so that should be plenty. I was originally thinking of something else, but I found this book & nearly lost my mind with the cuteness. (Miss SJ? - I've lost your mobile number when my phone chucked a tanty & deleted my ENTIRE contacts list. Not happy!)

Worst. Injury. Ever.

Ok maybe not the worst ever.

I was cleaning up one of my Spinning Group's wheels in preparation for a demonstration outing at Cape Byron Steiner School next weekend, when the treadle flicked off it's hook & eye attachment, bending back my right index fingernail with it. Owww! I was quite surprised I didn't swear given the level of pain. I guess I was too busy curling my body protectively round it (& not breathing. At all.) I finally gained the courage to look at it, thinking the whole nail must have come off, or at least ripped substantially. The nail's still there - and in one piece! Miracle. There's a white line half-way up my nail where it folded (ouch) & quite a bit of blood at the time, but other than that - not much evidence of trauma. However it is VERY sore, & I appear to be somewhat of a slow learner.

Sigh, bored. I know, I'll knit!  ... ow - bugger.
I'll send a friend an sms! ... ow - bugger.
I'll knit a sock! ... ow - bugger.
I'll open a can of soft drink as a treat! ... OW - bugger.
I'll knit a cardigan! ... ow - bugger.
How about some of blankie? He's soft! ... ow - bugger.
Oooo I know! I'll check my emails & surf the net for a while!! ... ow - bugger.
Maybe if I knit something small, like a flower ... ow - bugger.

You don't realise how much you use the tip of your index finger on your dominant hand until it hurts every time you do. Here's hoping my finger heals quickly. My knitting is a form of sanity saving for me & I'm not always a nice person to be around if I can't knit ...
(Just ask my beautiful daughter what I'm like when I'm in between projects!)

Remember this?

I started this blankie about 18 months ago (if you can remember back that far) in the height of summer (as you do), and knitted until I was well & truly sick of it.  I was up to the final border & thought after a little break from it, I'd be able to finish it reasonably quickly.  Wrong!

After realising that the knitting fairies weren't going to finish it for me (bugger), I've pulled it back out of it's "naughty bag" where it's been thinking about what it did for the last year or so.  After a week of fairly solid knitting, this is where I'm up to:

I'm still on the first side of the final border.  I swear the stitch marker that marks the first corner is teasing me, because it never seems to get any closer, no matter how many pattern repeats I do.

See that?  That's the stitch marker.  I know it looks close in the photo, but in reality I'm only half way.  (Sob!)  I don't know if you can make out the squillions of safety pins in the top picture or not, but they're spaced 2 pattern repeats apart to help keep me on track.  (The last thing I want/need is to finally arrive at a corner, only to find my stitch count is off.)  Maybe it's the fact that I've already done a border on this blankie in this braid that makes me feel so over it, but just looking at all the knitting that's left to go ... sigh.

I have a feeling it's going to be just me & this blankie, for ever & ever.  It's kinda hard to tell now, with it all scrunched up on it's circular needle, but I estimate it's going to be about 72" square - maybe more after I block it.  (Assuming it will ever be finished, of course!)

The return of the dining table

For those of you who know me well, and/or have visited my teensy tiny home in the last few years, you may not recognise this:

Yes, believe it or not, this is my dining table. Previously known as The Leaning Towers of Paperwork and Knitting Patterns.

This is something I've been meaning to do for ages, since my home phone no longer resides there it doesn't need to be Mess Mountain anymore. (Yes I know, I know. It didn't need to be Mess Mountain in the first place ... lol!)

Now all I have to do is find a better home for my rapidly breeding (well, it feels like it anyway) stack of knitting books & magazines, and learn not to leave my filing for so long.

Jellyfish!

Dedicated knitter that I am, I am slowly coming to terms with the fact that crochet can be better for some things. Like frilly, ruffled tentacley things with many, many increases. If this hadn't been a knitting versus crochet "off", I would have done Jelly's arms very differently. (And I suspect quicker, easier, and without hurting my hands.) So instead of having 4 arms, he only has 3. I hope he doesn't mind.

I'm still here!

Hi all!

OMG!!  Look how long it's been since my last post!  I mean, I knew it'd been a while, but ... (cough cough) ... anyway ... I'm back now, & I'll try not to leave the gaps between postings so long.

So what have I been up to?

• Spinning
• Knitting (mainly socks)
• Plodding away at Tafe (halfway now!)
• Navigating for my Dad with his new little sports car at the Qld MX5 club runs

I've JUST finished a lovely cardi for my beautiful daughter, but as we all know by now:  I can't take a decent photo of something black without it looking like a black blob which could be ANYTHING.  Here's the Ravelry link to the pattern so you can see what it looks like.  (Just picture it in black - it looks fabulous!)  It's currently drying on my loungeroom floor, & looks amazing.  I may just have to make one for me too!  It's all done in one piece starting from the top of the hood (ingenious design) which does get a bit heavy to cart around near the end, but it's so worth it.

I've just been challenged to another "off" by my gorgeous friend D, so I'm ... off ... to find the perfect yarn for jellyfish.  Wish me luck!

Milestone birthday

My birthday was a couple of weeks ago.  A big one.  One that ends in an "0".  I decided that I wanted it to be a good one, & set about plotting & planning for my big day.

I managed to get my beautiful daughter up from Melbourne for the week (yay!).  This is what she & my gorgeous friend D got up to while I was away at Tafe the night before.

 

There was more inside.  Flowers pinned to the dalek, pom-poms on pillows ...

Love it!



On the big day I was treated to a yummy cooked breakfast at home & coffee at a lovely cafe (Just Grounds).

I had invited most of my friends (& family) to dinner at a local Pub restaraunt (The Terrace) which has a magnificent view from its balcony of ... the carpark.  Nevermind, the food is good & the company even better.

And of course we can't forget the cake!  A true showstopper.  Everyone in the restaurant came over to have a look & take photos of the magnificent creation my friend Julie from Cakes Unleashed made.

EVERYTHING you see is edible. (Oh, except for the little sheep's knitting)  An absolute masterpiece.  And really yummy too!

Tea in a whole new way.

Those of you who know me, know I'm a tea drinker.  I drink a LOT of tea regardless of the weather & haven't been known to say no very often when offered a cup.  My preference is just plain ol black tea with sugar, although I am fond of a herbal one now & then.  The making & drinking of tea for me is a calming, mindful experience.  I love watching the steam rise in floaty tendrils from my mug as I cradle it in my hands.

On a recentish trip to the "big city" (read:  The Gold Coast) I came across these:

Hand rolled "Buddha Balls" in the most devine tea-dedicated shop I've ever seen.  They smelt simply delicious & I was told that as they steep, they unfurl into pretty flowers.  Wow!  This I had to try.

After a lengthy search to find a glass teapot at non-astranomical prices, I finally found (on special - gotta love that!) the perfect vessel in which to enjoy all it's beauty:

It's an all in one mug/teapot.  Just add one ball & boiling water, wait a few minutes and:

Ta-dah!  Oooo ... pretty! 

Then remove the glass insert & you're ready to enjoy.

Mmmm - yum!

Another Sandwich

After my friend D & I had been blathering on to Miss E from Evoke about what fun it is to make/spin a fibre sandwich, we decided to take over the table in her store & just MAKE one!  It was only a smallish sandwich, as there were only 4 of us (Miss N - baby spinner joined the fun), so it was nice & easy to just divide it into 4 equal parts.  Here's mine:

We had all kinds of fluff including silk roving, but decided to hold off on the wilder things we could add.  No marshmallows!  (Cotton balls)

I decided to use this:

To create these:

Which spun into singles looked a little like this:

And plied together to produce 150 grams of this:

Now what?  It's more pinky than the photo suggests, & quite smooth.  About an 8ply.  I really like the way it's turned out - I've never plied a fibre sandwich with itself before.  It's muted the bits of stark white quite nicely & happily there don't seem to be any spots where white is plied with white.
Hmmm - I was feeling a little stressed while I was spinning it & therefore it's slightly overspun (bad habit I know, whenever I'm tense it transfers into my spinning no matter what I do).  Maybe a hat or two for my market bag?

Help! I'm being invaded!

My lovely friend D challenged me to another "off".  She crochets, & I knit the same object.  It's usually a great giggle so when she challenged me to a "Dalek - off" I couldn't resist.  I don't actually watch Dr Who (don't know why, just never got into it the way I love series like Stargate or Buffy) but the challenge of knitting a dalek appeals to my inner nerd!

I may be in trouble though ...

No sooner had I finished the final seam & turned around to grab my camera,  it escaped!  I ran outside to find it extermiknitting some poor defenceless pot plants.



Then it hovered over & attacked a cute dragon sculpture.



I then chased it all over the backyard.







Before finally capturing it!  Does anyone have a spare cat carrier I can keep this cuddly evil thing in before it gets up to any more mischief?
Oh no!  I think it's found my comput ...



"EXTERMAKNIT!!!!!"